After 110 games, the top six teams in the Indian Super League will contest the playoffs that begin this week. Having won the league shield, Mumbai City FC will look to make it a double this season, while Hyderabad FC will look to make it back-to-back ISL titles under Manolo Marquez. The other teams in the playoffs are ATK Mohun Bagan, Bengaluru FC, Kerala Blasters and Odisha FC.
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What's the playoff format?
Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC are directly through to the semifinals, having finished as the top two in the league, but now will wait for the two knockout matches to learn their opponents.
The teams that finished between third and sixth place will play a single-legged fixture that will determine who plays the top two.
Is it different to previous ISL seasons?
Yes. In previous ISL seasons, only the top four teams qualified for the semifinals. From this season onwards, with two additional teams in the playoffs, the two knockout fixtures before the semifinals are an addition to the schedule.
Who plays whom, and when?
Knockouts
Friday, March 3: Bengaluru FC v Kerala Blasters (Sree Kanteerava Stadium)
Saturday, March 4: ATK Mohun Bagan v Odisha FC (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan)
Semifinals
Tuesday, March 7 and Sunday, March 12: Mumbai City FC v Bengaluru FC/Kerala Blasters (First Leg at Mumbai Football Arena)
Thursday, March 9 and Monday, March 13: Hyderabad FC v ATK Mohun Bagan/Odisha FC (First Leg at GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium)
Final
Saturday, March 18 at Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Goa.
Who's the form team?
Without question, Bengaluru FC. Simon Grayson's men have not dropped a point so far in the calendar year, and head into the playoffs on a run of eight wins in a row.
Rohit Kumar's resurgence, Sivasakthi Narayanan's emergence, Roy Krishna's reminder of his class, and Javi Hernandez's guile have contributed to a superb run for Bengaluru, who had just 10 points from their opening 12 matches.
Do not count out Bengaluru in the playoffs. They're a team filled with experience, and have players who've performed on the big stage before. Javi's scored twice in an ISL final before, and Sunil Chhetri, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and Krishna are no stranger to ISL knockouts.
Who's struggling right now?
It is the Kerala Blasters. They've won just two of their last eight games, and lost the other six (five of which were away from home). From being potential contenders for the league shield, the Blasters have left themselves with an away knockout tie to contend with.
It is a concern for Ivan Vukomanovic that his usually free-scoring team have scored just six goals in that eight-match run, having conceded 13. While Adrian Luna continues to excel, the Blasters have struggled to find consistency around him. To make matters worse, midfielder Ivan Kalyuzhnyi picked up his seventh yellow card of the season, having played in the inconsequential final league game against Hyderabad.
Can anyone stop Mumbai City?
On the evidence of the league stage, Bengaluru and East Bengal can, but those losses for Mumbai City came after they had already mathematically wrapped up the league shield. Both those losses for Mumbai City also came without Greg Stewart in the side. When Stewart was around though, Des Buckingham's side played some of the best football the ISL has ever seen. They ended the league stage with a record-breaking 14 wins, 46 points, and 54 goals in 20 matches.
Mumbai have a gap of 16 days between their last league fixture and the first leg of the semifinal, which will keep them well-rested, but might they have to shake off some rust?
Manolo's men dream of back-to-back titles
Manolo Marquez is already one of the better coaches to have stepped foot in the ISL, but if he can take this Hyderabad side to successive ISL titles, it would make him one of the greatest.
Hyderabad are not a side filled with stars, they also had to contend with losing some important players - Ashish Rai to ATK Mohun Bagan and Laxmikant Kattimani to injury - but somehow, they kept pace with Mumbai City in the race for the shield during the bulk of the league phase.
This season's Hyderabad are grafters, they fight, they stay in games, they don't concede many goals (their 10 clean sheets is the best this season), they win 1-0 a lot, but the bottom line is that they win more often than not. A 50% clean sheet rate is a healthy sign heading into the playoffs.
Stop-start ATK Mohun Bagan look for clutch lift-off
Where does one begin to describe this ATK Mohun Bagan side? They're brimming with talent in every area of the pitch, but somehow make playing football look like a burden at times.
After a strange season where they never really built any momentum, the Kolkata giants won their last two league games, and head into the knockout clash against Odisha with confidence. Juan Ferrando, much-maligned this season (and perhaps rightly so), seems to have found a solution in midfield with Federico Gallego pulling the strings and Hugo Boumous and Dimi Petratos free to roam in front of him.
Much like Bengaluru, ATKMB have a wealth of players who have played in, and won, ISL playoff matches before. Do not underestimate how important that is.
Odisha go from "embarrassment" to hope
Odisha FC owner Rohan Sharma called it an embarrassment when his team lost to Jamshedpur FC in their last league match, which left their place in the playoffs in danger. But FC Goa didn't do their job in Bengaluru, which meant Odisha made their way through to the playoffs for the first time ever.
They started this season well, but then went on a run of one win in nine games, before finishing the season with eight points in their last five games. Diego Mauricio is the league's top-scorer, while Nandhakumar Sekar and Isak Ralte have been bright sparks on the wings.
For Josep Gombau's side, beating ATKMB away won't be easy, but if Mauricio turns up and leads the Odisha attack like he has this season, then they stand a fighter's chance of upsetting the odds.