The K-League, which woke up from hibernation, roared. On the 1st, the "2024 Hana Bank K-League" announced the opening of the official opening match between the K-League defending champion Ulsan HD and the Korea Cup defending champion Pohang Steelers. Since then, matches between Jeonbuk-Daejeon, Suwon FC-Incheon, Gwangju-Seoul, Gangwon-Jeju, and Daegu-Gimcheon have been held one after another, ending the first round.

The K-League will take a short break for a week, with the second round set to begin from September 9. Among them, two teams that are busy in the 2024 season will face off on the Asian stage. They are Jeonbuk Hyundai and Ulsan HD, which met at the quarterfinals of the ACL (Asia Champions League). The first round will be held at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium on June 6, and the second round will be held at Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium on June 12.

Ulsan and Jeonbuk will meet in the quarterfinals of the ALC, and the Hyundai family derby will take place in Asia for the first time in three years. In 2006, Jeonbuk and Ulsan won the semifinals of the ALC, and in the first leg of the ALC match in Jeonju, they scored three goals, winning the match 3 to 2. However, in the second leg of the match against Ulsan, Jeonbuk bombed Ulsan's goal with four goals. Ulsan, which only garnered one goal, had to suffer a bitter defeat as it kneeled down 6 to 4 in total in the first and second matches. Jeonbuk, which beat Ulsan in the semifinals and reached the final, smiled broadly as it beat Syria's Alcarama and embraced the first ACL trophy in its history.

Since 2006, Jeonbuk and Ulsan will hold the Asian version of the "Hyundai Ga Derby" for the second time in the 2021 ACL stage. In the 2021 season, when the tournament stage was held at Jeonju World Cup Stadium, Jeonbuk's home city, amid a special situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeonbuk and Ulsan will face each other in the quarterfinals. The match between Ulsan and Jeonbuk in the ALC quarterfinals, which was held through a single-game match, entertained the audience with the best performance ever. After Ulsan Baco (Shandong) destroyed Jeonbuk's defense in the 12th minute of the first half, he scored a powerful left-footed shot through Jeonbuk's goal to gain the upper hand, but Jeonbuk was also not strong. In the 38th minute of the first half, Han Kyo-won scored a goal with his accurate right foot shot. Ulsan, which was dealt an unexpected blow, put pressure on Jeonbuk again and scored a come-from-behind goal just before the end of the first half.

Ulsan Yoon Il-rok scored a come-from-behind goal with the help of Oh Se-hoon (Machida) in the 45th minute of the first half, and Jeonbuk, which allowed the come-from-behind goal right before the end of the first half, balanced the match with a strong left-footed shot from Akdong Kunimoto (Liao Ning) at the start of the second half. The two teams were in a fierce battle afterwards, but failed to score a goal, and Ulsan eventually ended the fierce battle. Ulsan Lee Dong-kyung scored the goal with a strong left-footed shot in the 100th minute of the first half. After finishing the game without any additional goals, Ulsan set a milestone of advancing to the semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Ulsan, which reached the semifinals, lost to Pohang, its archrival on the east coast, after a penalty shootout, and failed to advance to the finals for the second consecutive year, forcing it to swallow its regret.

Along with the ALC quarterfinal match, Jeonbuk and Ulsan will play their fourth round match of the K-League on Thursday, and will hold three "Hyundai Ga Derby" in March alone. Ulsan and Jeonbuk are facing their first crisis since the opening of the season, as they are set to face a fierce competition of pride that they cannot back down. Jeonbuk is seeking revenge against Ulsan amid fierce competition.

Since Coach Hong Myung-bo's inauguration in the 2021 season, Jeonbuk has been losing ground in the opponent team's previous record against Ulsan, saving its pride. Jeonbuk, which overwhelmed Ulsan with four wins and one draw in five matches in the league and FA Cup under coach Jose Moraes in the 2020 season, saved its pride by posting one win, two draws and two losses in five matches in the league and ACL in the 2021 season, the first year of coach Hong's inauguration. The following year, Jeonbuk collapsed with one win, one draw and two losses in four matches. Jeonbuk, which received one win and three losses in as many as four matches last year, is particularly weak against Coach Hong Myung-bo's Ulsan.

In 13 matches since Hong's inauguration, Jeonbuk has secured only three wins and had to hand over the hegemony of the league to Ulsan. Hyundai's domination of the derby record in terms of league standards also forced Ulsan to hand over its complete dominance over the team. It has lost 41 wins, 29 draws, and 42 losses out of 112 matches, boasting pride. On the other hand, Ulsan will want to continue its upward trend against Jeonbuk, which has continued since Hong's inauguration.  토토사이트

Not only did Ulsan catch its archrival Pohang in a good mood in the first round of the opening round, but it also proved its strong attack strength by blasting five goals in two matches against Banpo Re Gofu of Japan in the ALC round of 16. Jeonbuk is also aiming for a perfect revenge against Ulsan, which had been a disappointment for the past three years. Jeonbuk, which made it to the quarterfinals in a good mood by scoring three goals in two matches against Pohang in the ALC round of 16, only added one point in disappointing performance in the opening match against Daejeon Hana Citizen. However, since it has strengthened its capacity by transfusing a large number of league-class players including Lee Young-jae, Hernandez, Thiago, Lee Jae-ik and Kim Tae-hwan, the team is also expected to play in the quarterfinals.

Before the lingering sound of the whistle that announced the opening of the K-League goes away, Ulsan and Jeonbuk, the league's leading strong teams, are set to hold three consecutive games in March. In the first leg of the ACL quarterfinals, which will begin at the Jeonju World Cup Stadium on the 5th, which will be able to make a first hit with a smile.