After the first round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL), in which the K League clubs went undefeated, and the second round, in which they suffered two losses in four games, the K League clubs returned to the competition in the third round with a record of three wins in four games.
A total of four K League teams are competing in the Asian Champions League this season. Last year’s defending K League champion Ulsan Hyundai, FA Cup champion Jeonbuk Hyundai, Pohang Steelers, who finished third in the league, and Incheon United, who finished fourth in the league and will be competing in Asia for the first time in the club’s history.
Pohang Steelers and Ulsan Hyundai were the first two K League teams to record perfect wins in the third round. First up were Champions League defending champions Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), who put in a flawless performance to earn three valuable points on a tough trip to Japan.
Pohang, coached by Kim Ki-dong, completed a grueling Champions League away campaign in style with their third consecutive group stage win, beating Urawa Reds in their Asian Champions League Group J third leg at Saitama 2002 Stadium in Japan at 19:00 (KST), thanks to goals from Jung Jae-hee in the 29th minute and Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Ko Young-jun in the fourth minute.
With back-to-back wins over Wuhan Shandong (China), whom they defeated at home in the second round, and Urawa Reds, the most formidable opponent to threaten Pohang in Group J, Pohang moved to the top of the group with nine points and a clear path to the knockout stages. As news of the victory filtered in from Japan, Ulsan Hyundai, who have been gnashing their teeth for revenge in Korea, stroked their pride with a perfect victory over Johor Darul Taqzim (Malaysia), who inflicted a second straight defeat on them last season.토스카지노
Ulsan, coached by Hong Myung-bo, exploded for three goals in the first half to secure a perfect 3-1 victory over Johor Darul Taqzim in the Asian Champions League Group I third leg at the Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan, South Korea, at 19:00 on Thursday. The hosts opened the scoring in the fifth minute when captain Jung Seung-hyun collected a Rubik’s Cube cross from a corner and finished with a right-footed shot. Rubiksson, who also recorded an assist, scored back-to-back goals in the 12th and 18th minutes of the first half to take an early lead.
Ulsan then faced a crisis in the 36th minute when Kim Tae-hwan was sent off for accumulating cautions, and Ulsan eventually conceded a goal eight minutes into the second half to a powerful mid-range shot from Johor Bergson. Despite being briefly shaken by the concession, Ulsan showed class despite being a man down and finished the match without conceding a further goal. With the win, Ulsan, who had slipped to third place in the group with a 1-1 record, returned to second place in the group behind Kawasaki Frontale (JPN), who have won three consecutive games to top the group and keep their hopes of qualifying for the tournament alive.
Incheon smiled with victories in the first and second rounds, but could not continue their winning streak in the third round. Incheon United, coached by Cho Sung-hwan, lost to Shandong Taishan, coached by Choi Kang-hee, who has been dominating the K League.
Incheon United, coached by Cho Sung-hwan, conceded two consecutive goals to Shandong Taishan’s powerful foreign strikers in the third leg of their Asian Champions League Group G match at the Incheon Football Stadium on May 25 at 19:00. Incheon, who pressed Shandong early in the first half, were disappointed to see Moon Ji-hwan’s header hit the post, and then Gerso and Mugosa threatened Shandong’s goal with threatening shots, but to no avail.
Incheon dominated the game throughout the first half but were unable to find the back of the net and eventually conceded a goal in the second half to Shandong’s threatening foreign striker. After conceding the first goal in the 13th minute of the second half to Brazilian striker Crijuan, who entered the game as a substitute, with a powerful right-footed shot, Incheon conceded another goal in the 43rd minute to Belgian international midfielder Marouane Fellaini. Incheon, who had ridden a two-game winning streak into the second round to take sole possession of the top spot in the group with a three-game unbeaten streak, fell to second place in the group after being edged out by Shandong on a winner-take-all basis.
By the time the news of Incheon’s disappointing defeat broke, Jeonju’s victory was complete. After suffering a shock defeat away to Bangkok United (Thailand) in the second round, Jeonbuk redeemed itself with a three-goal blowout at home against Ryan City Sailors (Singapore).
Jeonbuk Hyundai, coached by Dan Petrescu, took the lead against Singapore’s emerging powerhouse Ryan City in the third match of the Asian Champions League Group F at Jeonju World Cup Stadium at 19:00 on the 25th, with Amano Jun scoring the first goal with a powerful left-footed mid-range shot in the 5th minute. Then, in the 33rd minute, Lee Dong-joon’s powerful cross found Ryan City central defender Tan for an own goal. Jeonbuk then continued to push Ryan City, culminating in a wedge goal from Moon Sun-min in the 12th minute of the second half.
Jeonbuk, who were in a precarious position after losing to Bangkok in the second round, bounced back with a win in the third round, but were unable to reclaim the top spot in the group. Bangkok, who recorded nine points with a 1-0 win over Kitchee SC in the third round, finished three points ahead of Jeonbuk, who only had six points. In the end, Jeonbuk, who finished second in the group, had to swallow their disappointment as they were unable to reclaim the top spot despite the win.
In the third round of the Asian Champions League in the East Asia region, which took place over the course of two days on March 24 and 25, the four Korean K League teams managed to restore some pride. On the other hand, the four Japanese J-League teams, who had built up their pride with four wins in the second round, faltered with two wins and two losses, and the three Chinese Super League teams, who had collapsed with three losses in the second round, saved their pride with three wins.
The Champions League, which has completed three rounds of play through Nov. 25, will begin its fourth round next month on Nov. 7 and 8 and will conclude its group stage schedule by Dec. 6.
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