The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) has always been a very open and closely-fought league. On a given day, one can’t predict any clear victor. Yet, there is one team that has been ever-consistent, underlining their status of being the league’s best so far.Known as the Mecca of Indian football, Kolkata has been the breeding ground for the sport and its talent for decades. And for many years, it also housed a strong legacy of successful Indian clubs, clashes between some often drawning spectators in excess of a hundred thousand, all thronging to the biggest stadium in India, the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, better known as the Salt Lake Stadium.So, if such passionate fans were to unite under one umbrella, what it would form would have to be a footballing sensation…… which is precisely what happened when the ISL was born in 2014; and with it, football in Kolkata finally became one unit in the form of Atlético de Kolkata (ATK). The locals had more than one reason to celebrate though. While football has been a major passion through and through, there is perhaps as much enthusiasm when it comes to cricket. The reason for that can be put down to one individual. Sourav Ganguly, former India cricket captain and an icon of West Bengal, had his share in the ownership of the ISL team along with other formidable partners.Thousands of ardent fans, the face of Bengal cricket and the Mecca of Indian football – a potent combination – entered the ISL hand in hand. Consequently, what followed is a much-cherished success story. After three seasons of the ISL, ATK have won two titles and remain the only team to have progressed into the knock-out phase every time.Yet to taste defeat in any opening day fixture, ATK have gone from strength to strength. The giant Salt Lake Stadium of course hosted the first ever ISL fixture where ATK gave a little demonstration as to how things were to pan out in the future. Mumbai City FC were the unfortunate victims that night, ending up on the wrong side of a 3-0 scoreline.But, however successful the team may be, ‘ruthless’ would perhaps not be a suitable adjective for ATK. Disciplined and smart would perhaps be more apt. Considering the two seasons (2014 and 2016) they ended up as champions, on both occasions, they qualified for the semi-finals by clinching one of the last two available berths. Season 1 had them playing seven draws out of 14 fixtures in the league phase, while Season 2 saw them play eight.In front of goal, ATK did just about what was required. While the 2014 season saw them picking up only two victories with a goal difference of two or more, last season they had no victories with a two or more goal-margin.The same formula applied for the knock-out phases. The 2014 semi-final did not yield a single goal over two legs against FC Goa, as ATK sealed their passage into the final via a penalty shoot-out. The final saw them giving their all defensively, as both luck and being resolute kept Kerala Blasters’ firepower at bay. They pounced on a rare opening from a corner right at the end of the game to secure the title and become the “first champions”.Season 3’s final brought ATK the same opponents, the same strategy and the same outcome. Yet again, they were defensively sound. Yet again, they pounced on a rare opening from a corner to score. And while this time it boiled down to penalties to decide the winner, yet again ATK pipped the Blasters to the title.This season though, the league’s and the team’s set up are very different. Two new teams have ventured in to add competition, and the league itself will test tenacity owing to a longer season. Having tied up with Atlético Madrid, ATK relied heavily on their Spanish armada, with at least five Spaniards in each of their three seasons. The same structure applied for the managerial set-up, as both ATK’s head coaches so far – Antonio Lopez Habas and Jose Molina – were from Spain. The upcoming season, however, will see only one Spaniard in the form of 30-year-old defender Jordi Figueras Montel.The team will also have to do without their talisman and their top-scorer for the past two seasons, Iain Hume. The Canadian has returned to the team he signed his first ISL contract with, and will be determined to stop ATK from tormenting Kerala Blasters any further.The management has changed too with two former Manchester United players in the fray. While Teddy Sheringham will be ATK’s head coach for the new season, Ashley Westwood will take up the role of technical director. The duo worked their influence in two ways. One, in bringing former United academy player Tom Thorpe to bolster the defence, prior to which Sheringham’s former Tottenham Hotspur teammate, and Republic of Ireland top-scorer Robbie Keane was signed up. The other was to sign fellow Englishmen Carl Baker and Conor Thomas, who were teammates at Coventry City. More experience was brought in the form of iconic Finland and long-time Bolton Wanderers ‘keeper Jussi Jääskeläinen.ATK also permanently acquired some promising local talent. ISL 2016 final’s shootout hero Debjit Majumder is highly underrated but one of the best in the business of shot-stopping, while 23-year-old right-back Prabir Das is a tireless player with deadly pace. The two gelled well for ATK winning the ISL title together last season. While another new signing and former FC Goa player Robin Singh may not be a like-for-like replacement for Hume, the muscular forward is known to be a defender’s nightmare. A major recruit though, is one of the two most expensive drafts in the ISL this season. Eugeneson Lyngdoh is a proven game changer who adds immense depth to an impressive midfield.A balanced squad with the right mix of proven talent and experience, ATK are once again a force to reckon with, come ISL 2017-18 as they host old foes Kerala Blasters FC on the opening night. With a vociferous fanbase right behind them as they make a return to the historical Salt Lake Stadium, can ATK be the first team to successfully defend an ISL title?