Starts on the 1st of next month

The K League 1 (Part 1) will enter a heated match between Ulsan and Pohang at 2 p.m. on the 1st of next month at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium.

It is a showdown between Ulsan, which is trying to win its third consecutive league title, and Pohang, the winner of last year's FA Cup.

A total of 12 teams, including promoted team manager Kim Cheon-moo, will participate in this year's K-League 1. A total of 198 matches will be held to play 33 regular rounds per team through early October.

Afterwards, the team will be divided into Final A (1st-6th) and Final B (7th-12th) and play five more matches per team. The winner will be decided, participation in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League next season, and relegation to the K League 2 (second division).

While the prestigious Suwon Samsung remained at the bottom of the list last year and went down to K League 2 for the first time since its foundation, Gimcheon, which had abundant national team resources, will take the K League 1 stage again in two seasons after the 2022 season.

The rivalry between Ulsan and Jeonbuk Hyundai will continue this season.

Ulsan, led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, is the most promising candidate to win the league for three consecutive years. Last year, the team remained at the top with 12 points difference from second-place Pohang.

There are changes in the squad. Striker Baco, who was responsible for the attack, left for Taishan in Shandong Province of China, and Jeong Seung-hyeon and Kim Tae-hwan moved to Alwasle (United Arab Emirates) and Jeonbuk, respectively, in the main defense line.

However, Brazilian striker Kelvin replaced Baco and recruited Matheus, a former member of the U-23 national team, as a defensive midfielder. In addition, veteran Kim Min-woo, Ko Seung-bum, Hwang Seok-ho, and Shim Sang-min have evenly strengthened their capabilities.

Jeonbuk, which finished fourth last year and crumpled its pride, aims to recover its reputation.

Thiago, a striker who scored 17 goals with Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan) last year, and Hernandez, a striker for Incheon United, were sharpened.

It also recruited national fullback Kim Tae-hwan, one of the main players in Ulsan's victory, as well as Kwon Chang-hoon and Lee Young-jae.

In addition to the rivalry between the two leading clubs leading the league, the competition between Joo Min-kyu (Ulsan) and Thiago is also drawing attention.

The two scored 17 goals side by side last year, but Joo Min-gyu became the top scorer. If they both scored the same goal, they played 36 games side by side based on the number of games played and the number of games played. Since then, Joo has few players in the game, and has become the top striker. In terms of the number of assists, Thiago has seven, ahead of Joo Min-gyu with two.

Ulsan and Jeonbuk will be competing each other starting in March. They will have a showdown in the quarterfinals of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League. The team will have the first match in Jeonju on March 5 and the second match in Ulsan on March 12.

The variable in the competition between the two teams is Ulsan coach Hong Myung-bo.

While the Korea Football Association, which recently replaced coach Jurgen Klinsmann (Germany), has decided to appoint a domestic coach as a successor, Hong is being mentioned as a strong candidate both inside and outside the ground.

In addition, FC Seoul, which appointed manager Kim Ki-dong, one of the representative masters of the K League, Gwangju FC, which caused a third-place sensation with the excellent leadership of coach Lee Jung-hyo, and Pohang Steelers, a traditional master with Park Tae-ha as the head coach, are considered opponents.

Kim Ki-dong, who entered Seoul, Lee Jung-hyo, and Kim Hak-beom, who newly took charge of Jeju United, are rich in box office factors on their own.

On top of that, striker Lingard from Manchester United of the English Premier League (EPL) is the biggest interest of the K-League this season.

He played in 182 matches in the EPL, scoring 29 goals and 14 assists. He can play both offensive midfielder and wing forward. He also played in 32 A matches (six goals) for the England national team. Showmanship is also worth watching.

Seoul set a new record of 22,633 spectators in a single season of professional sports last year. Joining Lingard is expected to add more momentum to the box office boom.

Institutionally, it is notable that there has been a change in the mandatory participation of players under the age of 22 (U-22).

If U-22 players do not play, the existing method of subtracting the number of replacements will be partially eased from this season only for K League 1.

If a U-22 player did not start until last year, only two players could be substituted for the team. In addition, only one U-22 player could start, and if there was no additional substitution, only three players could be substituted.

Five players could be replaced only if more than two U-22 players started or more than one player was replaced after one.

According to the system change, three players can be replaced even if a U-22 player does not play. If one U-22 player starts and there is no additional substitution or two or more players are put in as substitution without starting, four players can be replaced.

If more than two U-22 players start or one player is substituted after one player starts, up to five players can be substituted. K-League 2 maintains the existing mandatory participation system.

The Professional Football Federation explained, "The number of replacements has increased from three to five since the 2021 season, and the number of K League 1 players waiting to be replaced from seven to nine from this season." 토토사이트

K League 2, which will involve relegated Suwon, will also open on March 1. The first game of the opening round is Ansan Greeners-Gyeongnam FC.

A total of 13 teams will participate and play a total of 234 games, 36 games per team. Suwon, which suffered from relegation last year, will appoint Yeom Ki-hoon as its official coach and seek promotion and rebuilding of prestigious families.

A media day will be held at The Plaza Hotel in Jung-gu on the 26th, where coaches and representatives of 25 teams (12 K League 1 and 13 K League 2) will be held to convey their determination ahead of the new season.