There are only two rounds left before the final stop. Only one team’s fate has been decided. It is Ulsan HD on the top. Ulsan beat second-ranked Gangwon FC 2-1 in the last round to clinch the K-League 1 title for the third consecutive year. With 68 points, Ulsan has widened its K-League 1 ranking to seven points from Gangwon FC (61 points). Ulsan won the K-League 1 title in 2022 and 17 years, and achieved its first two consecutive wins last year. It is also its first time to lose three games in a row. It tied 1996 and 2005 and became the fifth team to clinch the fifth consecutive K-League title. It has become the third “Dynasties’ Club” to win three consecutive K-League titles, following Seongnam FC (1993-1995 and 2001-2003) when it was an entrepreneurial club Ilhwa and Jeonbuk Hyundai that won the K-League 1 title for a whopping five consecutive years from 2017 to 2021. Ulsan has even secured a berth to participate in the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) next season.
If there is joy, there is tears. This is the fate of the ground. Now, the biggest interest in the game is the fierce battle for relegation to the bottom. The 12th place in the K League 1 will be directly demoted to the K League 2 (division 2), and the 11th place will be decided through the promotion and playoffs with the 2nd division teams along with the 10th place. The biggest challenge is to escape from the bottom place. Currently, Incheon United is at the bottom with 36 points. Jeonbuk Hyundai (38 points), Daegu FC (40 points) is ranked 10th, and Daejeon Hana Citizen (42 points) is ranked 9th. Jeju United (48 points) is confirmed to remain in the first division, and Gwangju FC (45 points) is also free from the last place war. Arithmetically, just two more points will determine the remaining players on its own.
The six teams that will play in the Final B will play in the fourth round of Hana Bank’s K League 1 finals at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. Incheon will play Daejeon at Incheon Stadium, Jeju will play Gwangju at Jeju World Cup Stadium, and Jeonbuk will play Daegu at Jeonju World Cup Stadium. Incheon’s medal is the “survival king.” He stayed in the Final B for nine out of 12 seasons since the introduction of the promotion system, but has never been demoted. In 2018 and 2020, he started the final round from the bottom, but survived. All other teams that started at the bottom suffered relegation.
Incheon, which challenges the myth once again, has nowhere to look. You have to win unconditionally. If Incheon loses and Jeonbuk beats Daegu, the “last-place war” will end. Incheon’s relegation will be confirmed. Daejeon cannot back down. If they win both of the remaining two games, they hit the drainage line as long as they can stay without PO. Incheon is dominant in the opponent’s matches. In the last 10 games against Daejeon, they led by 8 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and 2 wins and 1 loss this season.
Jeonbuk, with its pride torn to pieces, cannot be worse. Surviving the match is an urgent priority. However, the team has hardly found a way to turn around. Jeonbuk has one draw and three losses in its recent four games. Daegu also urgently needs to avoid being in last place. If it beats Jeonbuk, it will become a reality. Daegu showed strong performance against Jeonbuk in this season with two wins and one draw. The game between Jeju and Gwangju is relatively relaxed. Gwangju has physical burden due to away match against ACLE Japan during the week, but if it wins, it will avoid sending PO to the team. 안전놀이터
The remaining battle for Final A is “ticket tussle” heading to the Asian stage. The K-League has 2.5 ACLE tickets and one ACL2 ticket, a lower-level competition. Ulsan has 1.5 ACLE tickets left. However, there is no “confirmation” until the end due to the wide variety of variables. One must also watch Ulsan and the Pohang Steelers’ journey to the Korea Cup final (Seoul on Thursday), and ACLE and ACL2 during the 2024-2025 season. The ACLE winners, who will participate in the event of Ulsan, Pohang, and Gwangju, will have one ticket for the next season. The ACL2 winners, who will participate in the event, will have the chance to participate in the ACLE PO.
In this round, Suwon FC will have Gangwon FC (Sept. 9), FC Seoul Ulsan FC and Pohang FC will have Gimcheon Sangmu FC (Sept. 10). As Gimcheon is not allowed to play in the ACL, Seoul (54 points), Pohang FC (53 points), and Suwon FC (50 points), which are ranked fourth and sixth, must finish the league as high as possible to increase their chances of advancing to the ACL. Regardless of the results of the remaining two matches, Gangwon has confirmed its second order in the ACL of the K League 1.