ATK to take on Kerala Blasters in ISL opener

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Bengaluru, September 22: The fourth edition of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) will kick off on November 17 in Kolkata with a high-voltage clash between defending champions ATK and runners-up Kerala Blasters.

The match to be held at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (previously Salt Lake Stadium) will have a sub plot with European rivalry of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov set to resume to Indian soil.

ISL 2017-18 will see 10 teams in action this season, with the addition of Bengaluru FC and Jamshedpur FC, which will result in a prolonged season lasting four months for the first time.

Football Sports Development Ltd., a joint venture between IMG, Reliance Industries and Star India, announced the match schedule of the power-packed featuring 95 matches.

To get the full fixtures, check out our Facebook post below

All 10 teams play each other in a home-and-away format in 90 games before the two-legged semi-finals which are scheduled to take place in the second week of March.

The date and venue of the final will be announced later. All league matches to be played from Wednesday to Saturday will kick off at 8 PM (IST) with Sunday featuring double headers at 5:30 PM and 8 PM (IST).

The season's first double-header will see a repeat of the 2015 final between Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa in Chennai.

The season's first Maharashtra derby between FC Pune City and Mumbai City FC will be played on November 29, 2017 at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune.

Jamshedpur FC will play their first home match at the renovated JRD Tata Sports Complex Stadium against ATK on December 1.

The 10 clubs have collectively spent Rs 132.75 crores in signing 77 international and 166 domestic players.

Unlike previous seasons, the maximum number of foreign players in the playing XI has been reduced from six to five from this season onwards.

This has prompted clubs to invest heavily on home-grown talents with long-term goals in mind resulting in over 32 Indian players getting multi-year contracts starting this year.