Atletico Kolkata will play Kerala Blasters in the inaugural Indian Super League final after a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over FC Goa in Wednesday night's semifinal second leg in Fatorda.
The match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium mirrored the first leg at Kolkata's Salt Lake Stadium, finishing 0-0. No goals were scored in 210 minutes of football between the two star-studded sides.
During the deciding shoot-out, Andre Santos and Zohib Amiri both spurned their chances for Zico's Goa. But Kolkata's penalties were perfect -- Borja Fernández converted the decisive spot kick -- as they sealed a place in Saturday's final at D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
The other semifinal was decided by an extra-time goal from former Derby and Celtic midfielder Stephen Pearson, giving Kerala Blasters a nail-biting 4-3 victory on aggregate against Chennaiyin FC, despite a 3-1 defeat in the second leg on Tuesday night.
The semfinal results mean that the top two teams in the regular season -- Chennaiyin and Goa -- will miss out on the championship match. Kolkata finished third on the ISL table and Kerala were fourth.
Kolkata's marquee player Luis Garcia should be fit for the final, despite being subbed off in the second half against FC Goa due to a tight hamstring.
"I felt a little bit of a cramp in my hamstring. We need players who are at 100 per cent on the pitch and I definitely wasn't after that. Besides, now there's a big game in a couple days and I intend to be fit for that one," Garcia told the ISL's official website.
As for Kolkata's dip in form in the latter part of the ISL season, the former Liverpool and Spain midfielder predicted that his team would now produce their best for the final against David James' Kerala Blasters.
"We were leading for 10 games in a row," he said. "It is true that we struggled a bit in between, but we have shown that we are a hard side to beat. It wasn't only now, we showed it long back."
In the final, Garcia will be hoping to get the better of James, another former Liverpool player, who is Kerala's player-manager. But their Anfield careers didn't cross over as the England goalkeeper was at Portsmouth during Garcia's three-year tenure on Merseyside.