2017 K-League Classic

[OttoSilver]

How do you go from Aberdeen in a "top" European league to ... Gwangju?

[MipoFanatic]

The club president being the dad of your former teammate at Celtic!

[daeguowl]

So it's Sangju Sangmu sucked down into the promotion-relegation playoffs against Busan. POSCO-bankrolled Jeonnam avoid finishing second-bottom thanks only to goals scored.

Sangju will either become the first South Korean club relegated three times (in just six seasons), or the first K-League Classic club to win the promotion-relegation playoff (in five attempts).

The Kleague are streaming both legs of the play-off in HD globally. No need to squint at a grainy stream.

https://mycujoo.tv/k-league

[eujin]

The Kleague are streaming both legs of the play-off in HD globally. No need to squint at a grainy stream.

The last two playoffs have gone the way of the lower league team. I can't see this one changing that trend. Busan have the current form. Sangju would've been directly relegated except for a handful of wins they picked up way back in March and April. Busan have the Cup Final hanging over them against Ulsan at the end of the month, but I doubt they will hold back for that.

[MipoFanatic]

The Kleague are streaming both legs of the play-off in HD globally. No need to squint at a grainy stream.

https://mycujoo.tv/k-league

Thanks for that - pity I now live in what is perhaps the world's worst timezone for watching Korean football!

[eujin]

Thanks for that - pity I now live in what is perhaps the world's worst timezone for watching Korean football!

Since when did you move to Toronto? If you'd been at the Cloak and Dagger on College Street last week when Denmark qualified for the World Cup I would've bought you a drink.

[daeguowl]

The Kleague are streaming both legs of the play-off in HD globally. No need to squint at a grainy stream.

https://mycujoo.tv/k-league

Thanks for that - pity I now live in what is perhaps the world's worst timezone for watching Korean football!

Let us know if it's any good.

[MipoFanatic]

Thanks for that - pity I now live in what is perhaps the world's worst timezone for watching Korean football!

Since when did you move to Toronto? If you'd been at the Cloak and Dagger on College Street last week when Denmark qualified for the World Cup I would've bought you a drink.

Hah! Three months ago. It's taking some getting used to. I did some uni here way back when, but it's a foreign country as far as I'm concerned.

Were you out here on a business trip?

[MipoFanatic]

The last two playoffs have gone the way of the lower league team. I can't see this one changing that trend. Busan have the current form. Sangju would've been directly relegated except for a handful of wins they picked up way back in March and April. Busan have the Cup Final hanging over them against Ulsan at the end of the month, but I doubt they will hold back for that.

All four previous pro/rel playoff finals have gone to the lower-division team, no?

But - uh oh! - Busan have pooped the bed and lost their home leg 0-1. They'll need some heroics away to Sangju on Sunday unless they want to go down in history as the first lower-division team to lose out.

Match highlights (apparently not geoblocked) here.

[MipoFanatic]

Pohang Steelers have confirmed a signing of ex-Sweden international defender Marcus Nilsson from Stabæk.

Looks like the first Swede to play in the K-League didn't have much luck. Signed for Pohang, but previous back injuries flared up that prevented him from playing. His contract was terminated mid-season and he returned home to have surgery.

[eujin]

Thanks for that - pity I now live in what is perhaps the world's worst timezone for watching Korean football!

Since when did you move to Toronto? If you'd been at the Cloak and Dagger on College Street last week when Denmark qualified for the World Cup I would've bought you a drink.

Hah! Three months ago. It's taking some getting used to. I did some uni here way back when, but it's a foreign country as far as I'm concerned.

Were you out here on a business trip?

Yes. I was in Waterloo for most of the time.

[eujin]

From the highlights it looks like Busan dominated the chances, hit the woodwork a couple of times, but that really is a terrible result for them. Is there any chance that somebody somewhere knows the tie-break rules in case of Busan winning the second-leg 1-0 or 2-1 etc? Do we have away goals rule, straight to penalties, home team stays up? The possibilities are almost endless these days.

[eujin]

Two in a row ABBA-style penaties it was and although Busan got an early goal and the 1-0 away win in 90 minutes, Sangju stayed up with a 5-4 win in the shootout. Busan still have the two-legged cup final starting Wedesday to look forward to, but losing this way is going to take a lot out of them.

[MipoFanatic]

So that's Busan as the first Challenge club to fail to win the pro/rel playoff. Well done.