Arsenal legend Freddie Ljungberg and Spanish World Cupper Luis Garcia will be the centre of attention when Mumbai City FC kick off the inaugural Indian Super League football tournament on October 12 at Atletico de Kolkata, in a tournament that will feature 61 games spread across 70 days.
The opening match will be played at the historic Salt Lake Stadium. IMG-Reliance and Star India -- the promoters of the League -- on Wednesday announced the fixtures for the much-anticipated inaugural edition.
The league stage will witness 56 games on home and away format, followed by a two-legged semi-finals and the final scheduled for December 20.
Delhi Dynamos FC will host the league's second game when they play FC Pune City on October 13. The game is expected to draw lot of interest as Italian World Cup winner and Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero is a part of the Delhi set-up.
The action will move to Guwahati on October 15 for the home match of NorthEast United FC against Kerala Blasters FC and then to Goa next day for the hosts' game against Club Chennai.
Mumbai will see the first ISL action on October 17 when Mumbai City FC take on FC Pune City at DY Patil Stadium.
Club Chennai, which has generated lots of interest because of its reported link-up with former Brazilian star Ronaldinho, will host their opening game on October 19. FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters FC will host their first matches on October 22 and 27, respectively.
The semi-finals will start from December 13 with the top four clubs qualifying for the knock-out stage to be played in a two-legged format with the winners moving onto the final.
The Indian Super League final will be played at a neutral venue.
Image: Sachin Tendulkar, John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor and brand ambassador Varun Dhawan and other team owners with Nita Ambani (centre), founding chairperson of Football Sports Development (FSD) which owns ISL.
