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Gwangju draws in final ACLE league stage match, looks to round of 16

Published: 19 Feb. 2025, 14:57 Updated: 19 Feb. 2025, 17:50

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Gwangju FC react after a 7-3 win over Yokohama F. Marinos in the AFC Champions League Elite at Gwangju World Cup Stadium on Sept. 17, 2024. [YONHAP]

Gwangju FC drew 2-2 with Buriram United in their final 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) league stage match on Tuesday, finishing in fifth place on the 12-team league stage table before their knockout stage run.

Tuesday’s match against the Thai club at Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju was a formality for the Korean side, who locked in a round of 16 spot for the first time in their penultimate league stage game last week.

Gwangju were two goals behind by the end of the first half, but leveled through a brace from Oh Hu-seong in the 68th and 74th minutes, sealing a fifth-place finish.

That finish marks the highest result among the three K League 1 clubs in this season’s ACLE. The Pohang Steelers finished in ninth place, while K League 1 defending champions Ulsan HD will finish in 11th place regardless of their final result against Shandong Taishan later on Wednesday evening.

Gwangju are the only K League 1 club to have qualified for the knockout stage this season, as only the top eight teams in East Asia reach the round of 16 alongside eight clubs from West Asia.

Gwangju will have a busier schedule than fellow K League 1 teams at least through March 12, when the ACLE round of 16 fixtures wrap up, as an ACLE campaign runs from September through May the following year, while the K League season runs from February or March to November in a single calendar year.

The quarterfinals and semifinals are both scheduled in late April, with the final slated for May 4.

Gwangju will return to domestic action until their next ACLE schedule, with the southern club facing Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Jeonju, North Jeolla, on Sunday after their opening game of the 2025 K League 1 season ended in a goalless draw with Suwon FC on Feb. 15.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]