Who Will Make The K-League Play-Offs?

The top three all won again on the weekend. Hence, whilst they are not mathematically assured of being there, I’m prepared to say that, with five rounds remaining, they home and hosed as far as a play-off birth is concerned. To put it simply, they are playing a brand of football far and away superior to the rest of the competition.

Despite having to travel to the Middle East for midweek Asian Champions League quarterfinal first legs, FC Seoul and Pohang Steelers both shook of fatigue and jet-lag to bag another three points in round 25 of the K-League.

Seoul cruised to a 3-0 win over Daejeon Citizens, with Jung Jo-Gook grabbing a second double to go with the one he bagged in Qatar. Pohang Steelers snatched a 2-1 win in Busan courtesy of a winner from Brazilian striker Denilson. And Jeonbuk Hyundai stole a 1-0 win in Incheon to show that, whilst they may not be able to beat any of the teams in the top three, they are still a cut above all the teams below.

The real league battle lies for the remaining three play-off spots.

That’s right – the K-League, like the A-League in Australia, runs with both regular and post-season competitions. I’ll explain the system in greater detail when the play-offs are upon us, but for now all you need to know is that the top six teams at the end of the regular season will be involved.

With half the spots as good as filled, that leaves three up for grabs. The gap between Pohang (40 points) in third and Chunnam Dragons (34) in fourth is six points. As is the gap between them and Suwon Samsung in tenth.

That means there are seven teams in with a realistic shot of still being alive after round 30. Here they are, with their current league positions, points and runs home:

4. Chunnam Dragons (34) – Jeonbuk Hyundai (A), Pohang Steelers (H), Daejeon Citizens (H), Jeju United (H), FC Seoul (A).

10. Suwon Samsung Bluewings (28)– Daegu FC (A), Ulsan Hyundai (H), Seongnam Ilhwa (A), Jeonbuk Hyundai (H), Pohang Steelers (A).

On the face of it, Seongnam Ilhwa are looking good, courtesy of their relatively easy run in. I’d say the same about Ulsan, but they’ve played one more match to this point of the campaign. Seongnam will face the bottom side (Daegu FC) plus two in free-fall (Gangwon and Gwangju) and won’t meet any of the top three.

Unlike the rest of the play-off hopefuls. They must all tackle at least one (Gwangju and Gyeongnam), two (Incheon United and Samsung Bluewings), or all of them (Chunnam Dragons).

I may have outlined seven teams as being in the play-off mix, but the reality is that Gwangju Sangmu and Suwon Samsung will have to do something quite incredible to make it. You can pretty much stick a fork in them. The army boys haven’t won a game for three months and last year’s champions just haven’t got going at all this time around. It is the undeniable quality of Cha Bum-Kun’s squad alone that prevents me from ruling them out completely.

Incheon United may have been solid, and by solid I mean drab and dull, all season, but they’ve never been out of the play-off spots. I expect them to be there or there abouts. I then expect them to exit the play-offs at the first hurdle, so uninspiring has been their football.

That leaves one spot left and three teams. Chunnam have the toughest run home, but possess more quality, despite losing Lee Chun-Soo over the summer, than Gyeongnam or Ulsan. They are my pick to snare it, but who knows.

This years K-League season has been a tight one throughout and with so many teams still with so much to play for, don’t expect the play-off line-up to be set in stone until the very last moment.

Category: 1

Tags: 1, FC Seoul, K-League, Pohang Steelers

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