As the top half-dozen clubs vie for the league title and spots in the top continental tournament next year, the have-nots of South Korean football will try to avoid being relegated to the second division next season starting Friday. After 33 matches, the 12 teams in the K League 1 have been split into two tiers: Final A for the top six and Final B for the bottom six. Clubs will now play five more matches within their own group to finish out the season. Each season, the last-place team in the K League 1 gets directly relegated to the K League 2. Teams finishing in 10th and 11th places must survive playoffs against K League 2 foes to stay in the big league for the following season. Incheon United are stuck in 12th place with 32 points, three points back of Daejeon Hana Citizen FC. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, nine-time champions mired in the worst season in club history, are in 10th place with 37 points. Daegu FC are in ninth place with 38 points. Incheon are in danger of being relegated for the first time afte r scoring just once in their past four matches. They will play the first two matches of the final phase at home, with Jeju United visiting them Saturday. Jeonbuk will face Daejeon on Saturday to continue their push out of the relegation zone. They reached as high as ninth place recently and have lost just once in their past six matches. Jeonbuk are winless in the past six meetings against Daejeon, with a 2-1 loss in April last year followed by five consecutive draws. Among Final B clubs, the match between Gwangju FC and Daegu FC on Friday will be the first one of the final stage. With 43 points, Gwangju could afford to focus more on competing in the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation Champions League Elite tournament than on the domestic league. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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