One last loss doesn't dampen spirits for K League 1 winners Ulsan

Ulsan Hyundai players celebrate winning the K League trophy after their last match of the season against Jeju United on Sunday at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The 2022 K League regular season is officially in the books with the last week of K League fixtures completed over the weekend.

While the last match of the season was just a matter of pride for Ulsan Hyundai, who had already won the trophy on Oct. 16, it was more a matter of life and death for FC Seoul. The capital club on Saturday only narrowly escaped the relegation playoffs with a 2-0 win over Suwon FC and secured their seat in the top tier next season.

Despite losing 2-1 to Jeju United at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Sunday, Ulsan Hyundai comfortably clinched the K League trophy for the first time in 17 years celebrating in front of a huge crowd.

Ulsan had secured their title with one match left to play on Oct. 16 after coming from behind to beat Gangwon FC 2-1. The win gave Ulsan an insurmountable lead over second-place Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with the last week of fixtures remaining.

This is Ulsan’s third regular season victory after winning in 1996 and 2005. After finishing runner up for the last three years, Ulsan has had a total of 10 runner-up finishes, the most in the league.

With Ulsan securing the trophy, Jeonbuk will not be able to take home the trophy for the first time in five years. Jeonbuk has the most K League 1 regular season titles, at nine, and has swept the trophies since 2017.

Despite missing out on defending their title, Jeonbuk was able to end their season with a bang. Jeonbuk on Sunday beat Incheon United 2-1 at home, Cho Gue-sung scoring both goals in the club’s last match of the season.

Jeonbuk finishes the season with 21 wins, 10 draws and seven losses, three points behind Ulsan total.

On Saturday, FC Seoul managed to squeeze into the ninth spot on the table after beating Suwon FC 2-0, pushing the Suwon Samsung Bluewings down to 10th place.

In the K League, the bottom club from the K League 1 is automatically relegated and the top team from K League 2 takes their place in the top tier. The second-to-last K League 1 team competes in a playoff each year with one of the runners-up from the K League 2. If the K League 2 club wins, they are promoted and the K League 1 club is relegated.

Starting this season, in addition to the previous promotion-relegation playoff, the 10th K League 1 club — the second-from-last in the 12-team league — will need to play the winner of a series of playoffs played between the third to fifth K League 2 clubs. Only the top nine K League 1 clubs are guaranteed to stay in the top tier without playing a promotion-relegation playoff.

FC Seoul last week missed their opportunity to secure the spot after a lackluster 1-0 loss to bottom club Seongnam FC. However, with goals from Na Sang-ho and Jung Han-min on Saturday against Suwon FC, Seoul managed to avoid the relegation playoffs in the last gasp.

This puts FC Seoul in a good place before they face Jeonbuk Hyundai for the two-legged FA Cup final on Thursday and Sunday. Seoul last advanced to the FA Cup final in 2016 and were beaten by the Suwon Samsung Bluewings. If Seoul manages to win the FA Cup, it will be the club's third title and their first in seven years.

The FA Cup is not part of the K League season, but is a knockout competition hosted by the Korea Football Association where the winner earns a ticket to the AFC Champions League next year alongside the top two clubs from the K League.

While Jeonbuk has now finished runner-up in the league and therefore headed to the continental tournament, FC Seoul's only possible route to the Champions League is through the FA Cup title.

With FC Seoul securing their spot in the top tier, the 10th placed Bluewings will now need to face K League 2 No. 3 FC Anyang in the relegation playoffs while K League 2 runners-up Daejeon Hana Citizen will face penultimate K League 1 finishers Gimcheon Sangmu on the other side of the bracket. The first pair of playoffs will be played on Wednesday with the second on Saturday.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]