How Is This Year's ISL Playoffs Different To Previous Seasons?
The ISL Playoffs this year will be played in a new format.
The Indian Super League 2022-23 season will head into the final round with as many as six sides in with a chance to win the championship. While this is the ninth season of the competition, this time around there is a different format set to be followed for the Playoff fixtures. After the 110 league games, it is the top six teams in the table that now remain in the race to clinch the championship.
In a brand new format from this season, the teams that finished in the top two positions in the table- Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC- have directly qualified for the semi-finals. However, the four teams which finished between the third and the sixth place will now compete in a knock-out encounter and the winners of these sides will then join the Islanders, who clinched the ISL League Shied by virtue of topping the table, and the Nizams in the final four.
This essentially means that ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters and Odisha FC will now play to knock the other team out to reach the semis. While the first of this knockout match will be played between Bengaluru and Kerala on March 3 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in the BFC's home ground at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, ATK Mohun Bagan will play Odisha in the second knockout match.
The Road to #HeroISL 2022-23 Glory 🏆🤩#LetsFootball #HeroISLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/j5smouLzdS
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) February 25, 2023
Mumbai are then waiting to play the winner of the first knockout between Bengaluru and Kerala in the first semi-final, spread over two-legs, at the Mumbai Football Arena while Hyderabad will meet the team which wins the game between ATK Mohun Bagan and Odisha will also be a two-leg fixture.
The winner will be a do-or-die game on March 18.
Notably, this is the first time that such a format is being practiced in this league. Previously, the teams that finished in the top four directly qualified for the semis. From this season, two more matches have been added to the calendar with the knockout games before the semis, being the latest addition.
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