Director Lee Jung-hyo's Gwangju FC, 'worth 290 billion won' Al Hilal and ACLE quarterfinals
Director Lee Jung-hyo's Gwangju FC, 'worth 290 billion won' Al Hilal and ACLE quarterfinals
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Gwangju FC of the K-League 1 is the only K-League club that is set to advance to the quarterfinals at the AFC Champions League. The opponent team is Al-Hilal, a Saudi Arabian powerhouse who is banking on its star players.
Gwangju will play against Al Hilal in the quarterfinals of the ACL Elite (ACLE) 2024-2025 season at 1:30 a.m. on the 26th (Korea time) at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
This season's ACLE was divided into East Asian and West Asian teams until the round of 16.
From the quarterfinals, it will be held in a single round in Saudi Arabia, a neutral region, regardless of region.
Gwangju is currently the only K-League club to survive on the ACL stage.
K League 1 Ulsan HD and Pohang Steelers, who played in ACLE with Gwangju, were eliminated from the league stage, and K League 1 Jeonbuk Hyundai, which played ACL2, was eliminated from the quarterfinals.
Gwangju is a civic club that was evaluated in the middle and lower ranks in the K-League.
However, after manager Lee Jung-hyo took office, he was promoted from K League 2 to K League 1 and was reborn as an ambush team in the AFC-hosted club competition.
The upward trend continued until ACLE.
He was on the verge of being eliminated after losing 0-2 in the first round of the round of 16 to Vissel Kobe, a powerhouse in the Japanese professional football J1 League, but won 3-0 in the second round.
Gwangju, which came from behind in the total score, achieved a great achievement of advancing to the quarterfinals.
As a result, Gwangju succeeded in reaching the quarterfinals of the AFC-hosted tournament for the first time in the history of the K-League city and provincial teams.
If Gwangju beats Al Hilal to the semifinals, it will make history again.
However, it will not be easy to break the record. Al-Hilal, Gwangju's opponent, is a relatively powerful player in terms of power.
Gwangju also has good players such as striker Asani and midfielder Ju Se-jong, but they fall short of Al-Hilal, who reinforced his power with Saudi Arabia's "oil money."
World-class players such as João Cancelo, Hoobeng Neves (Portugal), Aleksandr Mitrovic, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic (Serbia), Henan Roddy (Brazil), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), and Yasin Bunu (Morocco) are active in Al Hilal uniforms.
The difference can also be seen in the club value.
According to the transfer media "Transfermarkt", Gwangju's club value is 8.6 million euros (about 14 billion won), while Al Hilal is evaluated at 180 million euros (about 292.4 billion won), more than 20 times that of Gwangju.
Gwangju is determined to overcome this power gap with its organizational power.
"We analyzed Al Hilal. We are ahead in terms of teamwork," Lee said through his team's Gwangju club. "Soccer is a team sport," displaying confidence.
"I believe in the potential of our squad. I really want to win and I really have to," he said. "As always, I will play the soccer that we used to play."
Fortunately, the team atmosphere is good, too.
Gwangju drew an upward trend with four wins in five games in April.
In particular, it has won three games in the last four league games, rising to third place in Hana Bank's K League 1 2025.
Park Tae-joon, who was scheduled to join the Armed Forces Sports Unit earlier this month, is said to have a special will within the team to postpone his enlistment to June for the Al Hilal match. 안전놀이터
Gwangju's team began adapting to the local area in Saudi Arabia, the land of the showdown on the 21st.
If Gwangju beats Al-Hilal to the semifinals, it will fight the winner of the Al-Ahli (Saudi Arabia) and Buriram United (Thailand) for a ticket to the finals.