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Pohang Steelers eliminated from AFC Champions League Elite after heavy loss in Malaysia

Published: 19 Feb. 2025, 15:14 Updated: 19 Feb. 2025, 17:50

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

The Pohang Steelers celebrate during the AFC Champions League Elite leage stage match against Johor Darul Ta’zim at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Malaysia on Feb. 18. [AFC]

The Pohang Steelers’ run in the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) has ended after losing their final league-stage match 5-2 to Johor Darul Ta’zim at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Malaysia on Tuesday.

To be in with a chance of making the knockout stage the ninth-placed Steelers needed a win to overtake eighth-placed Shandong Taishan. The Chinese team still has one game to play against Ulsan HD later on Wednesday.

Under the revamped ACLE, the top eight teams in the 12-team East Asia league stage advance to the round of 16, where they face the top eight teams from West Asia.

The Steelers had an up-and-down run in this season’s ACLE, which started in September last year when Pohang was already six months into the 2024 K League 1 season.

A K League season runs from February or March to November within a single calendar year, while an ACLE campaign spans a two-year format, running from September to May of the following year.

By the time the Steelers played their ACLE match of the season against Shanghai Shenhua on Sept. 17, 2024, they had already played 30 fixtures in the K League.

The Steelers had a shaky start to the ACLE campaign after their long run in the K League, losing 4-1 to Shanghai Shenhua.

Pohang won their second ACLE game against Shanghai Port 3-0 on Oct. 1 but lost their third match against Buriram United 1-0 on Oct. 22, before bouncing back with a 4-2 win over Shandong on Nov. 6.

It was an up-and-down run again after that, with the Steelers losing 2-0 to Yokohama F. Marinos, then securing a 3-1 victory over Vissel Kobe on Dec. 3.

The Steelers could have raised their knockout-stage hopes, but by the time they returned for their penultimate match in the league stage against Kawasaki Frontale, it had been over two months since the Pohang club finished their run in the K League 1. This left them in a position where they had to play a decisive match without any tuneup.

The result was a crushing 4-0 loss to Kawasaki, which diminished their knockout-stage chances before Tuesday’s loss put an end to the Steelers’ run.

Pohang Steelers defender Jonathan Aspropotamitis, far left, reacts to the referee's call to send him off during the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite match against Kawasawki Frontale at Pohang Steelyard in Pohang, North Gyeongsang on Feb. 11.

A two-year formatted K League season would allow K League teams to carry their performance into the ACLE and clear challenges such as starting the league stage after having played numerous domestic games or returning to the league stage with squad changes after a domestic season ends.

However, the K League has yet to publicly address whether it is planning to alter the system, although it told the Korea JoongAng Daily last year that it remains open to “various possibilities.”

Fellow K League 1 team Gwangju FC, meanwhile, locked in a round of 16 spot for the first time in history in their penultimate league stage game last week and finished in fifth place on the table after drawing their final match 2-2 with Buriram on Tuesday.

K League 1 defending champions Ulsan also competed in this season’s ACLE, but sit in 11th place with their last match against Shandong left to go later on Wednesday, as of press time.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]