The tragic story of ISL 2016 has definitely been FC Goa. For the first time in three seasons of the Indian Super League, the strong football team led by Brazil legend Zico exited the Indian football competition in the league stages itself.
In the 2014 edition, FC Goa were out in the semi finals stage, while they remained the finalists last year.
So interesting has the ISL 2016 been so far that even defending champions Chennaiyin FC are also facing exit from the tournament in the league stages and if that does happen, it would turn out to be another major upset. Chennaiyin remained the semi finalists in the inaugural season of the Indian Super League in 2014.
The last round of league fixtures, however, can turn out to be a classic contest among the teams, with even the current sixth and seventh placed teams at the moment remaining in contention to make it to the last four of ISL 2016.
So far, only Mumbai City FC have officially qualified to the ISL 2016 semi finals and Delhi Dynamos, who have two games to go, are also expected to join them. Neither team has ever made it to the last four of the tournament, so this time, they have made history.
Here is the ISL 2016 points table (as on November 28)
Rank | Team | League matches left | Points |
1 | Mumbai City FC (Qualified) | 1 | 22 |
2 | Delhi Dynamos | 2 | 20 |
3 | Atletico de Kolkata | 2 | 18 |
4 | Kerala Blasters | 2 | 18 |
5 | NorthEast United FC | 2 | 15 |
6 | FC Pune City | 1 | 15 |
7 | Chennaiyin FC | 1 | 15 |
8 | FC Goa (eliminated) | 1 | 11 |
Final round fixtures
Date | Home team | Away team | Time | Venue | |
Nov 29 | Atletico de Kolkata | v | Kerala Blasters | 7 pm IST | Rabindra Sarobar stadium |
Nov 30 | NorthEast United | v | Delhi Dynamos | 7 pm IST | IG stadium, Guwahati |
Dec 1 | FC Goa | v | Chennaiyin FC | 7 pm IST | JLN stadium, Fatorda |
Dec 2 | Atletico de Kolkata | v | FC Pune City | 7 pm IST | Rabindra Sarobar stadium |
Dec 3 | Mumbai City FC | v | Delhi Dynamos | 7 pm IST | Mumbai Football Arena |
Dec 4 | Kerala Blasters | v | NorthEast United | 7 pm IST | JLN stadium, Kochi |
Top scorers
Marcelo Pereira (Delhi Dynamos): 8 goals
Diego Forlan (Mumbai City FC): 5 goals
Iain Hume (Atletico de Kolkata): 5 goals