Relegation battle heats up: K League 1's race to the wire

With K League 1 now at the business end of the regular season, much of the recent focus has been on the ever-so-tight title race. Currently, just five points separate the top five as we head into this weekend’s international break. However, things are equally tight at the lower end, as the relegation fight sees the same number of points separating the bottom five in a relegation scrap that looks like it’s going to go right down to the wire.

There are currently just four games remaining in the regular season before the league splits into two. Barring a huge turnaround, it looks like the bottom six will consist of Gwangju FC, Jeju United, Daejeon Hana Citizen, Incheon United, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, and Daegu FC, meaning one of these will be relegated automatically, while another two will have to play off against the runners-up and playoff winners of K League 2.

While many of these teams have been struggling for form throughout most of the season, recent weeks have seen some surprising results, with many of the teams in the top half being turned over by the relegation strugglers, sometimes in spectacular fashion. In fact, if you look at the recent form table, it is almost upside down, with many of the top sides struggling over the last month, whereas the bottom sides all seem to have picked up form at the same time.

This past round of matches was particularly interesting. It all started with the Saturday night game, where Daegu played host to bottom-side Incheon as they looked to put some daylight between themselves and the bottom three. The home side went into this one full of confidence, off the back of two impressive wins. They overturned Gimcheon 3-0 at home before heading to Pohang and snatching all three points in a 2-1 win. Things started well for them too, as they took a 1-0 lead into halftime courtesy of Jeong Chi-in’s strike. However, a woeful second-half performance saw them throw away their lead, and they ended up losing 2-1, with Stefan Mugosa and Kim Do-hyuk scoring the goals.

Moving on to Sunday’s games, an in-form Daejeon side took all three points as they ran out 2-0 winners at home against Gwangju, thanks to a first-minute strike from Yoon Do-young and a late goal from Kim In-gyun. Jeonbuk also picked up an impressive point as they held a Seoul side, who went into the game off the back of five straight league wins, to a 0-0 draw. The results meant that Daegu ended the week in last place but still level on points with second-bottom Jeonbuk.

The remaining weeks of the season are looking very intriguing. Daegu will return to action on the 14th with a trip to Jeju, a side that could still be dragged into a relegation fight. They then face title-chasing Seoul and Gangwon before a particularly tasty-looking home tie against Jeonbuk. Incheon also faces a tough schedule as they meet Gimcheon, Ulsan, Gangwon, and Pohang. Perhaps Jeonbuk will have the trickiest run, as they also get their AFC Champions League 2 campaign underway at the same time, which will surely prove an unwanted distraction at this stage—particularly as their first game is a long trip to the Philippines to take on Cebu.

So, what can we expect from the remainder of the season? If the recent weeks' unpredictability is anything to go by, we are sure to see many more twists and turns along the way. Despite having been expected to challenge at the other end of the table as usual, Jeonbuk now find themselves deep in trouble, and they certainly won’t be helped by the start of their ACL 2 campaign. Daegu has also had a pretty woeful season, and despite a couple of impressive recent wins, there was an all-too-familiar feel about their lackluster second-half performance against Incheon. Daejeon and Incheon both sit just a point above these two, and let’s not discount Jeju just yet, who, despite an impressive victory in their last match, had been in pretty bad form themselves before that. It’s certainly going to be a nerve-wracking time for all five of these clubs.