ISL Final 2025: Bengaluru FC faces Mohun Bagan Super Giant in blockbuster clash
Summary
Sunil Chhetri’s last-minute heroics set up a thrilling ISL final as Bengaluru FC faces Mohun Bagan Super Giant in Kolkata. A clash of legacy vs new-age football, here's what to watch out for
Two days. Two stoppage time goals to decide the Indian Super League (ISL) finalists. One from a man who has been in such situations all his long career; the other from a player who scored his first goal of the season. Sunil Chhetri dwarfed the competition yet again, coming up with a diving header two minutes into added time to help Bengaluru FC to a 3-2 aggregate win over FC Goa in the ISL semi-final on 6 April.
A day later, Mohun Bagan Super Giant scripted a thriller of their own. Coming into the match with a 1-2 deficit, Bagan thwarted the rugged, if boneheaded, defence of Jamshedpur FC.
While Jason Cummings converted a penalty to pull them level, Lalengmawia “Apuia" Ralte, one of India’s brightest midfielders, took a punt on himself and rather than conjuring up a dazzling pass, drilled home a long-range shot.
The dramatic finishes have heightened the sense of anticipation ahead of the season’s biggest showdown in Indian club football.
Also Read In Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi, does India have its own tennis prodigy?
Bagan, the legacy club, will take on Bengaluru, the team that has set the standard for new-money franchise football in the country, for the ISL Cup on 12 April at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium. While this is the third Cup final in a row for Bagan, 2023 finalists Bengaluru are back after missing out on the playoffs last season.
The Kolkata club is also aiming for a rare double of winning both the league shield (table topper after the league phase) and the cup in the same season. Mumbai City FC is the only team that has achieved that feat, in 2020-21, since the League Shield was introduced in 2019. It may be the final stamp of excellence for Bagan.
The Kolkata team finished with 56 points from their 24 matches, eight points clear of second-placed FC Goa, to become the first team to defend the league title. The Mariners dominated the season, losing only two games in the league phase, but it was another roller-coaster ride for the other teams in contention.
CHAMPIONS GROUNDED
The biggest letdown of the season was Mumbai City FC, the reigning cup champions. For the last two years, Mumbai have been the one team that managed to keep pace with Bagan, especially in the closing stages of the competitions.
In a way, given football’s market forces, Mumbai became a victim of their own success. In the off-season, the team was picked apart—Apuia moved to Bagan, while Bengaluru ripped off their spine, luring away defender Rahul Bheke, midfielder Alberto Noguera and striker Jorge Pereyra Diaz.
Also Read Meet Saurav Ghosal, the comeback king of squash
With key players missing due to injury throughout the season, Mumbai City was unable to string together enough wins to restore confidence. They did, however, became the first team to secure 100 wins in the ISL, which was established with much fanfare in 2014. While Mumbai still snuck into the playoffs, their season culminated in a 0-5 defeat to Bengaluru FC in the playoffs.
For Bengaluru, it was a statement win. The Blues were once again a force to reckon with. After fading off late in the last edition, and a mid-season slump in 2024-25 where they won only three of 13 matches, Bengaluru fought back into the playoffs and will contend for the title on Saturday.
While Goa and Jamshedpur’s seasons ended in heartbreak, they had their moments. Khalid Jamil remains the only Indian head coach in the ISL and he worked wonders with Jamshedpur FC in only his first full season there. The team had finished 11th last season, and didn’t make any big-name signings to inspire hope. But Jamil turned it into a battling unit that constantly defied the odds.
Manolo Marquez’s FC Goa, meanwhile, were the only ones who got close enough to give Bagan a scare in the league phase. They stitched together a 12-match unbeaten streak during the season and finished second in the standings with 48 points. They also came up with one of the most relentless attacking displays in the second leg of the semi-final. It took some lightning saves from Bengaluru goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu and a touch of brilliance from Chhetri in the dying moments to hold them off.
LEADER, LEGEND
Even as Bengaluru resurfaced as a contender, their talisman, Chhetri is having the best league season since 2013-14. The 40-year-old has scored 14 goals so far, making him not only the highest scorer among Indians, but also the second highest in India’s premier football league. Even though he rarely plays the full 90 minutes, Chhetri is making the maximum impact in the window of opportunity he gets on the field.
“Football is about this. It’s about these inches, to be at the right moment in the right second, and Sunil Chettri is like this," Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza said after Chhetri came off the bench in the 55th minute in the semi-final against Goa to head them to victory.
Also Read Sunil Chhetri looks back on his career
So compelling was his form this season, that national coach, Marquez, who also happens to be the FC Goa coach, requested Chhetri to come out of retirement and don the India blue again. Less than a year since his international retirement, Chhetri competed in two games for India again and even scored in the 3-0 win over the Maldives in a friendly.
While no new player has emerged to snatch the baton from Chhetri, the league, despite being in existence for over a decade, hasn’t quite given Indian players a wide enough berth in striking positions. ISL teams have mostly relied on foreign recruits as their attacking spearheads, while Indian players have been pushed to the wings or in more defensive roles. Among the top 3 Indian scorers in this edition of ISL is Bagan defender Subhasish Bose, who has notched up six goals in 24 appearances.
A FITTING FINALE
Bagan will be aware that Chhetri also has an impressive record in the playoffs. In the 15 knockouts matches he has played so far for Bengaluru, he has scored 10 goals and provided one assist. But Bengaluru are far from a one-man army.
Saturday’s final will be a tussle for power as two teams with similar playing philosophies clash. With Spanish coaches Zaragoza and Jose Molina guiding them, both Bengaluru and Bagan like to play a possession-based, high pressing game. There is some quality in the centre of the park as MBSG’s Apuia and Greg Stewart will jostle with Noguera and Ryan Williams. While the two finalists also have a depth of talent, Bagan is more lethal in set-pieces. They have scored a league-high of 21 in dead ball situations.
The final also happens to be a repeat of the summit clash of the 2022-23 season. That game proved to be a thrilling, high-scoring affair at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa, with both teams finishing at 2-2 at the end of full time, but Bagan pipping the Blues 4-3 on penalties.
After ending his stint with Goa, Marquez, who will now be the full-time India coach, spilled a nugget of footballing wisdom. “This is a game of mistakes. And finally, without mistakes, all games would finish 0-0."
Bagan and Bengaluru are on equal footing—they have gathered momentum and have players with championships experience and pedigree. As they go head-to-head, it may well, as Marquez believes, come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.
Deepti Patwardhan is a sportswriter based in Mumbai.
