Ulsan bag one last win as Bluewings face relegation in K League 1 finale

Football

Published: 03 Dec. 2023, 17:05 Updated: 03 Dec. 2023, 17:52

Ulsan bag one last win as Bluewings face relegation in K League 1 finale

Ulsan Hyundai players celebrate winning the 2023 K League 1 title and raise the league trophy at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Sunday. [NEWS1]

The 2023 K League 1 ended on Sunday as its 12 teams delivered a predictable finale on both ends of the table. League winners Ulsan Hyundai closed out the season with a 1-0 win against Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors while the Suwon Samsung Bluewings faced direct relegation to the second division for the very first time.

Bluewings stay alive in K League 1 with one week to go

After Ulsan locked in the league title on Oct. 29, defending it for the first time, the remainder of the season was a formality for the league champions. It was a matter of how many points the club could secure at the end of the league’s 40th season.

Ulsan ended up with the same point tally as last season, 76, but the road to get there was less competitive as the defending champions were dominant throughout the 2023 season.

Ulsan rode a six-game winning streak in the early days of the season, moving as far as 12 points out of reach during the campaign. They locked in the title when they were 10 points clear at the top.

Ulsan’s Joo Min-kyu had another reason to celebrate, claiming the league’s top scorer title with 17 goals in 36 matches. He edged out runner-up Tiago Orobo of Daejeon Hana Citizen by minutes played — the second deciding factor when two players have the same amount of goals.

The Ulsan striker had played about 200 minutes fewer than Orobo even before Sunday’s fixture. This year marked Joo’s second time securing the top scorer title after winning it in 2021 with Jeju United.

League runners-up Pohang Steelers also had a remarkable season, winning the Korean FA Cup on Nov. 4 and locking in the runner-up finish on Nov. 25.

The Steelers are also the only unbeaten K League team in this season's AFC Champions League where they have a chance to claim more silverware as the Pohang side secured a place in the tournament’s knockout stage.

For the bottom three teams, the remainder of the season was a matter of which team could escape the relegation zone.

Last-place Bluewings drew 0-0 with 10th-place Gangwon FC on Saturday and faced relegation to the K League 2 for the first time in club history.

The Suwong Samsung Bluewings react after a 0-0 draw with Gangwon FC in the K League at Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Saturday. [NEWS1]

The Bluewings struggled throughout the season, managing only 35 goals in 38 league matches as the second least prolific team behind Gangwon while conceding the third-most goals, at 57.

Bluewings sacked two managers Lee Byung-keun and Kim Byung-soo as losses piled up, and two interim managers Choi Sung-yong and Yeom Ki-hun took the helm. Yet neither managed to take the team out of the relegation zone.

Local rivals Suwon FC also failed to escape out of the relegation zone. They drew 1-1 with ninth-place Jeju on Saturday to finish in 11th on the 12-team table, leaving themselves a chance to stay in the K League 1 through the playoffs.

A maximum of three K League 1 sides can face relegation to the second division every year, with the last-place team facing direct relegation at the end and the winner of the K League 2 automatically replacing the 12th-place team.

The second-place team in the K League 2 plays the 11th-place team in the K League 1, with the winner of that game playing the next season in the top tier.

As if that wasn't complicated enough, the fourth- and fifth-place K League 2 teams then play each other, with the winner then facing the third-place finisher. The winner of that game plays the 10th-place K League 1 team in yet another playoff, with the winner of that game also playing the next season in the top tier.

K League 2 winners Gimcheon Sangmu will replace the Bluewings next season, and Busan IPark will face Suwon FC in playoffs.

K League 2 side Gimpo FC also have playoffs ahead, meeting Gangwon in a battle for a spot in the top division.

Back at the top of the K League 1 table, Gwangju FC came in third place after a goalless draw with the Steelers on Sunday, surpassing competitors such as Jeonbuk and Incheon United after being promoted to the first division this year.

The team had secured wins against stronger teams in the league this season, beating the Steelers 4-2 in June and Ulsan 1-0 in October.

With a third-place finish, Gwangju also earned a place in the playoffs for the AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) next season.

K League 1 winners and Korean FA Cup champions earn a spot in the ACLE, while K League runners-up win a chance to play in the 2024-25 ACLE playoffs.

But because the Steelers are both the FA Cup champions and K League runners-up this season, a third-place K League 1 side will play in the playoffs instead.

Fourth-place Jeonbuk, on the other hand, will play in the inaugural AFC Champions League 2 — a second-tier club tournament by the AFC — next season.

It was the second season in a row Jeonbuk have failed to win the K League, after winning it five consecutive times from 2017 through 2021.

Incheon United lost 2-1 to sixth-place Daegu FC on Sunday, finishing in fifth place and thus failing to reach next season’s AFC Champions League. Incheon’s run in their first-ever Champions League campaign this season will continue, however, with the team still having a chance of reaching the knockout stage.

Further down the table, FC Seoul came in seventh with a 2-2 draw with eighth-place Daejeon on Saturday.

It was another disappointing season for the capital side overall, as the team failed to seriously challenge for the league title and did not secure a single trophy.

Since finishing in third place in 2019, FC Seoul have fallen short of a top-three finish, coming in ninth in 2020, seventh in 2021 and ninth again in 2022.

Daejeon’s eighth-place finish, on the other hand, was a solid result considering they earned promotion to the first division just last year.

Daejeon forward Orobo had a massive impact on the team this season, scoring 17 goals in the league alone.

With the regular season now over, the K League fans can now turn their attention over to the two-game series promotion-relegation playoffs that will determine the fate of K League 1 and 2 sides.

Suwon FC will play the first game of the series against Busan IPark on Wednesday in Busan while Gangwon face Gimpo in Gimpo, Gyeonggi at the same time.

The second games of the series will then take place on Dec. 9.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]