K-league revives at 2018 AFC league

Three K-league teams, excluding Jeju, have entered the round of 16, after the preliminary round of the Asian Football Confederation Champion’s league, which ended on Wednesday. Jeonbuk (Group E) and Suwon (Group H) finished the games as first place, followed by Ulsan (Group F) at second place, in their respective groups.

Having won 11 times, the K-league teams have been the strongest player in the AFC league, which has been hosted 36 rounds including the Asian Club Cup, its former name. J-league is in second place, having won six times. With the exception of Jeonbuk’s win in 2016, however, K-league has not been able to show notable performance for the past five years, failing to living up to its title. Meanwhile, Chinese super leagues, such as two-time champion Guangzhou Evergrande, have shown considerable improvement.


Jae-Hyeng Kim monami@donga.com