So the leauge phase of the Indian Super League comes to an end. In this little over a month's journey, we witnessed some awsome football action all across India. No doubt the league phase was a very closely fought competition and all the eight teams tried their very best to qualify for the play-offs. But as usual, four of the best teams namely FC Goa, Atletico de Kolkata, Chennaiyan FC and Delhi Dynamos go through the knockout stage and will be fighting even harder for the ISL trophy but only one will emerge victorious. 

Lets take a look at the five most promintent  features of the league phase of the ISL :

1) Dramatic turnaround by Atletico de Kolkata

The defending champions were luriking at the 6th position of the league table with 10 points after eight matches. Not even the heartiest fans of ATK would have ever thought that the Kolkata based franchise would blast their way into the play-offs and would be the first one to qualify. ATK were going through a slump with their marquee player Helder Postiga and some of their key players getting ruled out due to injury and they suffered three consecutive loses.But a combined team effort spearheaded by the Canadian international Ian Hume and not to forget Antonio Lopez Habas's superb coaching tactics helped ATK to cross all hurdles and again they are a top contender for the ISL trophy.

2) Pune City's unexpected exit 

Half way through the league, Pune City FC were at the top of the table and it was expected that they will definitely earn a play-off bearth without much sweat. But that did not happen in reality. Pune's sudden drastic fall in their form cost them a place in the play-offs for a second consecutive time. The Pune side learnt a much valuable lesson this season that if you need to be at the top, you have to be consistent with your performances.

3) Kerala's messy campaign

Kerala Blasters would definitely like to forget the ISL season 2 as soon as possible. The last year's runners up could hardly implicate their previous edition's performance this time. Firstly they did not get the services of their marquee player Carlos Marchena, then they had their manager changed thrice during the course of the league and to add to their misery, they had to end their campaign by being in the last position.It must have been extremely heartbreaking for the die-hard Kerala fans, who came in huge numbers during their team's match only to see their favourite team finish last.

4) Delhi's breakthrough

Last year, the Delhi Dynamos could not secure  a play-off berth as they were short by just one point. This time they ensured that nothing came in their came way. Coached by the legendary Brazilian Roberto Carlos, who was also their marquee man, the Dynamos made their way into the knockout stage, courtesy some briliant performances from players like Florent Maluda and Robin Singh. Although they are a first time entrant, they can easily walk away with the ISL trophy if they put up their ongoing performance.

5) North East's pain, Chennaiyan's gain

Both the teams had a mixed campaign, filled with ups and downs but it was the latter who prevailed over the former by just one more win than the former and earned the coveted play-off berth. North East United put up some entertaining performances in some selective macthes and dismal in some. The same applies for Chennaiyan too, as they had to wait till the very end to ensure their second consecutive play-off berth. The North East players must be feeling quiet dissapointing as they came very close to the play-offs but Chennaiyan peaked at the right moment and denied them the golden chance. Now whether they can utilize the oppurtunity or not, time will tell.

by Dipayan Saha