How Bengaluru FC won the Super Cup 2018

The Blues handed both the Kolkata Giants a strong defeat.

The Super Cup is back after a three-year absence. India’s top clubs will fight it out in the state of Kerala for the cup competition. The Super Cup is set to take place exactly after the end of the league competitions in the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League.

It will feature the top 16 clubs from India. All 11 ISL teams have already qualified and five more will qualify from the I-League. One I-League team, champions RoundGlass Punjab FC, have already qualified for the competition. The remaining nine I-League teams will take part in qualifiers, with the four winners from those entering into the Super Cup group stages.

There has also been a change in the format of the tournament from previous editions – which started from the Round of 16 stages. This time, however, there will be group stages involving four groups of four teams. The winner from every group will move onto the semi-finals before the two best teams move onto the final. 

The competition will properly get underway on April 8. The final is set to be held at the EMS Corporation Stadium, Kozhikode on April 25. This will be the third edition of the Super Cup after it was started in 2018. This was introduced as a repackaged cup competition which replaced the iconic Federation Cup from that year onwards.

Unlike last time, however, this time all teams are expected to field their strongest possible XIs because there is a lot at stake. The winner of the Super Cup will be able to have a chance to participate in the AFC Cup next year. So far, two Super Cup editions have taken place in the 2017-18 season and 2018-19 season. Here we look at how the champions of the first edition made their way to the silverware.

Bengaluru FC: Super Cup 2018 Champions

The first ever edition of the Super Cup happened in 2018, being held in entirety in Odisha. The matches took place at the brilliant Kalinga Stadium and Bengaluru FC reigned over as the winners. The Blues headed into the competition after a strong debut ISL campaign in which they lost in the final.

They faced a tough task in the form of Gokulam Kerala in the Round of 16. However, they grinded out a 2-1 win over their Southern rivals to make their place into the quarter-finals. A Sunil Chhetri hat-trick allowed the Blues to pick up a big 3-1 win over NEROCA FC in the quarters and book a tie against Mohun Bagan in the semis.

While the Mariners gave them a tough challenge, Bengaluru FC reigned supreme on the day with a big 4-2 win. They faced their Kolkata rivals East Bengal in the final, where they rolled over the Red & Gold Brigade with a 4-1 win to lift the Super Cup.

In doing so, the Blues ensured that they had won every single trophy they had competed for in India. Sunil Chhetri lead from the front, winning the Golden Boot with six goals from four games. Their Venezuelan striker Miku was also inspired and scored five goals, including a hat-trick in the semis.

Rahul Bheke was arguably their best defender and provided a string of impressive performances in the competition too!

Thus, this is how Bengaluru created history and became the inaugural winners of the Super Cup.