Gwangju dances 'Lee Jung-hyo Magic' attackers, draws a miracle in Saudi Arabia...The defense's risk of injury is the key
Gwangju dances 'Lee Jung-hyo Magic' attackers, draws a miracle in Saudi Arabia...The defense's risk of injury is the key
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Gwangju FC's biggest concern for challenging miracles is defense.
Gwangju will play the quarterfinals of the 2024-2025 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACLE) at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Wednesday (Korea time). The match will be against Saudi Arabia's strongest team, Al Hilal.
The gap is as wide as those who "hit a rock with an egg." Al Hilal is armed with massive oil money. According to TransferMarkt, a soccer transfer site, Al Hilal's squad is valued at 180 million euros. Starting with Hoobeng Neves (28 million euros), Aleksandar Mitrovic, Malcolm (25 million euros), Marcos Leonardo (20 million euros), João Cancelo (18 million euros), Kalidou Koulibaly (8 million euros), and Yasin Bunu (6.5 million euros).
On the other hand, Gwangju's value is only 8.6 million euros (14.1 billion won). In terms of players, it is impossible to compare them.
What we can trust is the leadership of coach Lee Jung-hyo. Since Lee took the helm in 2022, Gwangju has performed miracles every season. By winning the K-League 2 title in the first season, it has been promoted to the First Division Direct. In the following year, it rose to the third place in the top division. In the 2024-2025 ACLE season, he is running at a rapid pace representing the K-League.
Another positive factor for Gwangju is that its offense power is reviving. It has recorded four wins and one loss in the last five official matches, and all of them have scored except against Gangwon FC. In three games, he won by scoring two goals. It is encouraging that the performance of strikers such as Park In-hyuk, Gabriel and Hayes came up at the same time. He is not dependent on Asani but is able to use various types of attacks. Asani is very active in ACLE and is already on the lookout for the opposing team. We need other strikers' performance.
Defending is a concern. Bruno, a foreign player who emerged as a key resource behind Gwangju this season, injured his right adductor muscle in the game right before his departure. He failed to board the plane to Jeddah. Ahn, who collapsed in the same game, got on the plane but was not in good condition. This is bad news considering the weight of Al Hilal's offense, which cannot be fully recovered even if it is in 100 percent condition. 스포츠토토
Lee also expressed his intention to maintain an aggressive style without backing down against Al-Hilal. To this end, the defense line must endure as long as possible. As the team is organically driven, if the back side collapses, it will inevitably shake to the waist and the front.