Two of the top teams in the K League 1 have suffered back-to-back shock losses in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League in Southeast Asia. It was an uncharacteristic humiliation for the two-time Champions League winners.
On July 7 and 8 (KST), Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai played their fourth group stage matches of the 2023/24 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League in Malaysia and Singapore, respectively.
Ulsan hosted Johor Darul Taqzim at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, for their Group I match.
Earlier, Ulsan took the third leg 3-1 at home against Johor. After taking a five-minute lead through Jung Seung-hyun in the first half and multi-goal efforts from Rubiksson in the 12th and 18th minutes, Ulsan held on for the three points despite being outnumbered after Kim Tae-hwan was sent off in the 36th minute for accumulating cautions, conceding just one goal through Bertsson eight minutes into the second half.
Ulsan then immediately sought to avenge last year’s away match in Johor, where they suffered a 1-2 shock loss in the 2022 season. Moreover, Ulsan had just won the 35th round of the Hana OneQ K League 2023 with a 2-0 victory over Daegu FC on the 29th of last month, securing their first back-to-back K League 1 victories since their inception.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo said, “We have secured the title, but we haven’t done the winning ceremony yet, so our players can focus on the ACL and take it seriously. We will continue to focus on the ACL and prepare well for tomorrow’s game.”
However, the game did not go Ulsan’s way. After a tightly contested first half, Ulsan fell behind in the 44th minute to Heberti. The Japanese midfielder Ataru equalized in the 24th minute of the second half, and it looked like they were going to get a point, but Rashid Akiya scored the winning goal in the 43rd minute, resulting in a 1-2 loss. It was the same scoreline as last year.
While their opponents have a solid squad, including a number of national team players, and boast huge stadiums and facilities, they are technically a level or two below Korean soccer. Against Johor, however, Ulsan was brought to its knees for a second straight away defeat. 무지개토토 주소
While it was said that the team was not motivated by an early win at the end of the season, the team’s recent league form has not been great.
Ulsan remained second in the group (W2 D2 L6 G2). They have a goal difference advantage over third-place Johor (W2 D2 L6 P6 G0), but their schedule could make it difficult for them to finish second.
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