The 2018 Indian Super League playoffs was fourth playoffs series in the

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

, one of the top Indian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

leagues. The playoffs began on 7 March 2018 and concluded with the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 17 March 2018 in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. The top four teams from the 2017–18 ISL regular season had qualified for the playoffs. The semi-finals took place over two legs while the final was a one-off match at the

Sree Kanteerava Stadium Sree Kanteerava Outdoor Stadium, also known as Sampangi Outdoor Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Bangalore, India. It houses a running track, a volleyball court, and two outdoor rock climbing walls. The stadium is owned by the Department ...

. Chennaiyin won the final after defeating

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

3–2. This would be the second time that Chennaiyin won the title. The defending champions from last season, ATK, failed to qualify for the playoffs this season and thus were not able to defend their title.

Season table

Teams

, a new expansion side in the

, were the first side to qualify for the playoffs on 9 February 2018. The side managed to qualify after only 15 matches and having gained 33 points.

Pune City Pune ( ; , ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona ( the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan plateau in Western India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Pune district, and of Pune ...

became the second side to qualify for the playoffs after

Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...

, another new expansion side, were defeated by Bengaluru on 26 February. The victory for Bengaluru also ensured that they would finish the season at the top of the table. Chennaiyin, the 2015 ISL season champions, were the third side to confirm their qualification for the playoffs on 27 February. This was due to Mumbai City suffering defeat to Delhi Dynamos. The last spot in the playoffs was not decided until the last match day of the regular season when

hosted

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

at the

Kalinga Stadium The Kalinga Stadium is a Multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose international sports complex in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. Its foundation stone was laid by then chief minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik in 1978. It is best known as the home ground ...

. Both Jamshedpur and Goa were the only two sides eligible for that last spot. Goa would go on to win the match 3–0 and thus became the final team to qualify for the playoffs.

Bracket

Semi-finals

Leg 1

----

Leg 2

''Bengaluru won 3–1 on aggregate'' ---- ''Chennaiyin won 4–1 on aggregate''

Final

Goalscorers

;4 goals *

Sunil Chhetri Sunil Chhetri (, born 3 August 1984) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Indian Super League club Bengaluru and captains the India national team. He is the all-time top scorer in Indian Super League history. He is ...

(Bengaluru) ;2 goals *

Jeje Lalpekhlua Jeje Lalpekhlua Fanai (born 7 January 1991), simply known as Jeje, is an Indian politician and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. On 27 March 2023, he formall ...

(Chennaiyin) * Maílson Alves (Chennaiyin) ;1 goal *

Manuel Lanzarote Manuel 'Manu' Lanzarote Bruno (born 20 January 1984) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger or an attacking midfielder. He amassed Segunda División totals of 151 matches and 37 goals over six seasons, represent ...

(Goa) *

Anirudh Thapa Anirudh Thapa (born 15 January 1998) is an Indian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Indian Super League club Mohun Bagan. Club career Early life and youth career Thapa was born in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where he started ...

(Chennaiyin) *

Jonatan Lucca Jonatan Lucca (born 2 June 1994) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Uzbekistan Super League club Pakhtakor. Career A.S. Roma Lucca was signed by Italian team Roma from Brazilian side Internacional in July 201 ...

(Pune City) * Dhanpal Ganesh (Chennaiyin) * Raphael Augusto (Chennaiyin) * Miku (Bengaluru)

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2018 Indian Super League final 2017–18 Indian Super League season Indian Super League playoffs