Will Jeonbuk Hyundai face their first final round Group B exit in franchise history?
Jeonbuk will host FC Seoul in the 33rd round of the Hana OneQ K League 1 2023 at Seoul World Cup Stadium at 3 p.m. on Aug. 8. Jeonbuk is in seventh place and Seoul is in fifth place.
The saying that it’s useless to worry about Jeonbuk is no longer true. The time has come to worry about Jeonbuk. It’s been a season of genuine concern for Jeonbuk since the club won its first K League title in 15 years in 2009. Of course, Jeonbuk has had its ups and downs along the way, but they’ve never been this bad.
Since the split system was implemented in 2013, Jeonbuk has never been in Group B of the Final Round. This is an impressive record for any club in the K League. Until last season, they were in contention for the title, and the team that represented Asia beyond Korea was in danger of falling to Final B.
That would be a good thing, but there are still plenty of ways for Jeonbuk to advance to Group A of the Final Round. They just need to beat Seoul. A win would give Jeonbuk 49 points, which would put them in Final A regardless of the results of sixth-place Incheon United and Ulsan Hyundai.
If they draw with Seoul, they’ll have to hope that Ulsan can catch Incheon. Of course, that would require a goal and a draw against Seoul. If Jeonbuk draws without scoring against Seoul, they won’t be able to move up to sixth place because they’ll lose to Incheon on goal difference. If Incheon loses but scores a goal, Jeonbuk’s hopes are very slim.
A win over Seoul would be enough to get them into Final A on their own, but scoring a goal, drawing, and then hoping that Ulsan would win against Incheon without conceding a goal would be unbecoming of a prestigious club in the K League.
Jeonbuk is the defending champions of the K League. They finally dethroned Ulsan last season, but they were the clear favorites again this season. They have the power. They’re loaded with national team players, and their roster is full of big names. There is no other club in the K League that can afford to spend as much money as Jeonbuk right now.
Even in a world where soccer is completely submerged in the logic of money, Jeonbuk knew they would get what they paid for. There may be excuses. Obviously, the circumstances didn’t help Jeonbuk either, with the team’s morale sinking since the days of Kim Sang-sik, frequent injuries, a change of manager, and a withdrawal from the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games.
But they’re still Jeonbuk. No matter what reason you give for it, the fact that they’re sitting in seventh place and looking at their first Final B in history is hardly acceptable. So is their record. They’ve scored so few goals (37, 8th in the league) that it’s hard to believe they’re a team with team colors called Dakgong. The only thing that has kept Jeonbuk in the hunt for Final A is the strength of their defense (31 goals conceded, 2nd in the league).
Even competing against Ulsan, the favorite to win the title, would have been enough to make fans unhappy, but now they have to pray for Ulsan to win to avoid a humiliating first Final B in their history.
They may be lucky to meet a Seoul team that hasn’t won in 19 games against Jeonbuk, but if recent form is any indication, there’s no guarantee of a win against Seoul. Form is clearly in Seoul’s favor. They’re a team that doesn’t lose easily after switching to acting head coach Kim Jin-gyu.바카라
Also, Jeonbuk is not in a good physical condition after traveling to Bangkok. Jeonbuk is also concerned about their goal scoring record, so they should aim for a lot of goals against Seoul, but the last time they scored two goals in a league game was against Incheon two months ago.
With coach Dan Petrescu openly expressing his frustration with the lack of strikers and an offense that hasn’t been able to find the back of the net at all, it’s hard to expect much. Even if they do make it to the Final A after twists and turns, not many fans will be happy about it. Jeonbuk’s current address.