Gwangju FC thrash Yokohama F. Marinos 7-3 in ACLE debut

Gwangju FC triumphed over Yokohama F. Marinos 7-3 in their ACLE debut while Pohang Steelers suffered a 4-1 defeat to Shanghai Shenhua.

Gwangju FC midfielder Jasir Asani, center, celebrates scoring a goal during a 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite league stage match against the Yokohama F. Marinos at Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Gwangju FC thrashed the Yokohama F. Marinos 7-3 in their first AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) match at home Tuesday, while fellow K League 1 side Pohang Steelers lost 4-1 to Shanghai Shenhua on the same day in Shanghai, China.

Gwangju and the Steelers were the first K League 1 teams to kick off Asia's top club tournament, which has been rebranded from the AFC Champions League to the ACLE starting from the 2024-25 season. The renamed competition features a new “league stage” format that pits each team against eight randomly drawn teams from the same region in four home and four away games.

Gwangju were off to a smooth start to what turned out to be the match in which they saw the most goals this year, with Jasir Asani opening the scoring in the second minute. Oh Hu-seong doubled that lead in the 15th minute with a header.

Elber put one back for Marinos in the 34th minute, but Asani scored his second in the 55th minute. Elber also scored his second, four minutes later, putting the score at 3-2.

The game was goal after goal from that point on. Beka Mikeltadze found the back of the net for Gwangju in the 68th minute while Lee Hee-gyun and Gabriel Tigrao scored a goal apiece to bring the score to 6-2 by the 74th minute.

Takuma Nishimura scored one more for Marinos in the 85th minute, but Asani came back during stoppage time to complete his hat-trick and seal a huge victory over last season’s Champions League runners-up.

Gwangju FC celebrate their win over Yokohama F. Marinos in the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite match at Gwangju World Cup Stadium in Gwangju on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

This year is Gwangju’s first time competing at any cross-regional competition since the club’s foundation in 2010. The southern team qualified for the top-tier tournament after finishing in third in the K League 1 last season.

The Steelers, the 2023 Korean FA Cup champions, took the lead with Jorge Luiz’s goal in the 53rd minute, but their poor defense cost them four goals in 20 minutes.

Cephas Malele scored two goals in the 71st and 82nd minutes following the equalizer from Andre Luis in the 64th minute. Gao Tianyu added one more in the 84th minute, making a 4-1 win for Shanghai.

The Steelers have struggled lately in the K League 1, where the team has suffered six straight losses.

The Pohang side will play two more K League matches before facing a different Shanghai team, Shanghai Port, in the ACLE on Oct. 1.

The Steelers need to secure a top-eight finish on the 12-team table in Group E in order to book a spot in the round of 16, in which the top eight competitors from the two groups — Group E and Group W — will compete. Each group includes teams from the same region — east or west Asia — making the league stage a same-region affair.

Teams from the two regions can face each other starting from the quarterfinals this season under the new ACLE format, unlike last season when they could do so only in the final. The new rule would allow teams to compete who have never faced each other in history.

This season’s knockout stage will also take place in a single-match format, except for the round of 16, which will still be played in a home-and-away format.

Reigning K League 1 champions Ulsan HD are also competing in the ACLE this year alongside Gwangju and the Steelers.

Ulsan, who managed the best result from a K League 1 team in the Champions League last season after reaching the semifinals, were scheduled to face Japan's Kawasaki Frontale in Ulsan later in the evening as of press time Wednesday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]