The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional football league in India. It is a men’s competition, which began in October 2013. The league gained popularity very quickly after it’s inception and is one of the top leagues in the country.
The 2017-18 Season
The 2017-18 season of the Hero Indian Super League was the fifth edition of the competition.
The season began on 17 November 2017 and lasted till 17 March 2018. Two new teams were added to the league for the season, namely Bengaluru Football Club and Jamshedpur Football Club.
The matches took place only on Wednesday and Sunday, unlike the previous season where the matches were played on a daily basis.
Tournament Format
Each team plays each other twice in the season and the top four teams qualified for the playoffs.
The top four teams in the 2017-18 season were Bengaluru FC, Chennaiyin FC, FC Goa and FC Pune City
Bengaluru beat Pune CIty 3-1 on aggregate in the first semifinal, to make the final in their very first appearance in the competition.
In the other semifinal, Chennaiyin FC ran out 4-1 winners on aggregate, to make it an all-South Indian final.
Winners
The finals was played between Bengaluru and Chennaiyin FC at Sree Kanteerava Stadium, Bangalore. Chennaiyin beat Bengaluru 3-2, to be crowned Champions of the ISL for the second time.
Bengaluru took an early lead through their captain Sunil Chhetri, but Mailson Alves’s brace and Raphael Augusto’s second-half goal put Chennaiyin in command, and even a late goal from Miku could not arouse a Bengaluru comeback.
League Table
| Position | Team | Matches | Wins | Draws | Losses | Goals For | Goals Against | Goal Difference | Points |
| 1 | Bengaluru | 18 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 35 | 16 | 19 | 40 |
| 2 | Chennaiyin (C) | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 19 | 5 | 32 |
| 3 | Goa | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 42 | 28 | 14 | 30 |
| 4 | Pune City | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 21 | 9 | 30 |
| 5 | Jamshedpur | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 18 | -2 | 26 |
| 6 | Kerala Blasters | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 22 | -2 | 25 |
| 7 | Mumbai City | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 25 | 29 | -4 | 23 |
| 8 | Delhi Dynamos | 18 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 27 | 37 | -10 | 19 |
| 9 | ATK | 18 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 16 |
| 10 | NorthEast United | 18 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 12 | 27 | -15 | 11 |
