This year, in the second half of the year, the K-League 1’s survival competition is fierce.
Jeonbuk Hyundai won 2-1 at home against the Pohang Steelers in the 27th round of the K League 1 at Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 17th thanks to Kwon Chang-hoon’s winning goal just before the end.
Kwon Chang-hoon, who returned from injury in 483 days, drew attention as much as his thrilling winning goal was in the lower rankings that fluctuated in real time.
The team briefly emerged from the bottom with the victory. However, the team had to be pushed back to the bottom 30 minutes later when No. 10 Daejeon Hana Citizen also beat Incheon United 2-1. As Daegu FC, ranking 11th, also beat second-ranked Gimcheon Sangmu 3-0, competition has intensified among teams subject to potential demotion.
The K-League operates a promotion system that moves to and from the first and second divisions depending on their performance. The lowest rank is directly demoted to the K-League 2 (division 2), and the 10th and 11th rankers are experimenting with remaining in the K-League 1 after going through the promotion and playoffs with the second division teams.
Tensions have increased as the K-League’s professional soccer federation, which runs the K-League, has expanded its relegation range from “1+1” to “1+2” from 2022.
This year, it is difficult to predict who will be pushed to the second division as there are only two points apart from Incheon United (28 points), ranked 9th, to Daejeon, ranked 10th, Daegu, ranked 11th (27 points or more), and Jeonbuk, ranked 12th (26 points), just before the relegation zone.
The fear of demotion is also confirmed by the fact that all four heads of the teams have been replaced. Starting with Jeonbuk coach Dan Petrescu voluntarily resigning from his position, Daegu (Choi Won-kwon), Daejeon (Lee Min-seong), and Incheon (Cho Seong-hwan) have all been replaced in order.
This year’s K League 1 survival competition is more intense because teams that have been pushed to the relegation zone are not only changing their coaches but also strengthening their power in the summer transfer market.
Daejeon has elevated its capacity by bringing in significant foreign players including former national team defender Kim Moon-hwan and former national team player Martha, Kelvin, and Bob Shin. It has brought in 11 players from the summer transfer market. Jeonbuk has also successfully reinforced its capacity to match the past when it was vying for the title by recruiting eight of the most popular K-League stars, including Lee Seung-woo, Han Kook-young, and Andrigo. 스포츠토토
As Daejeon and Jeonbuk have increased their pace of points, teams outside the relegation zone cannot help but relax. Jeju United, which was ranked eighth, has also narrowed its gap with Jeonbuk to six points. If Jeju’s slump, which has suffered two consecutive losses, drags its bottom ranks to a longer period of time, no one knows what will happen. Jeju sought to strengthen its offense by recruiting Nam Tae-hee and Gallego in the summer transfer market, but lost 0-1 to Incheon and FC Seoul, respectively, as it had no goals in two consecutive matches.