Ulsan start ACLE campaign with 1-0 loss to Kawasaki Frontale

K League 1 reigning champions Ulsan HD kicked off their 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) campaign with a 1-0 loss to Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale in Ulsan on Wednesday.

Ulsan HD, in blue, react after losing the 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite match to Kawasaki Frontale at Munsu Football Stadium in Ulsan on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

K League 1 reigning champions Ulsan HD kicked off their 2024-25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE) campaign with a 1-0 loss to Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale in Ulsan on Wednesday.

Brazilian forward Marcinho broke the deadlock in the 55th minute with what turned out to be the winner for Kawasaki.

Ulsan recorded nine shots and six on target, but none of them went past former Korean national team No. 1 goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong, who has played for the Japanese club since 2016.

Jung is a former No. 1 for Korea, playing as a regular pick at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and also competed as a wildcard pick for the bronze-medal winning squad at the 2012 London Olympics.

Ulsan goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, who played at the 2018 World Cup and has regained a regular pick spot at the national team since Kim Seung-gyu sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury in January, blocked two shots on target, but fell short for the third.

Ulsan still have seven more matches to play in the league stage of the ACLE that has been rebranded from the AFC Champions League, Asia’s top-tier club football tournament.

The league stage format pits each team against eight randomly drawn teams from the same region — east or west Asia — in four home and four away games.

Ulsan need to secure a top-eight finish on the 12-team table in the East Region in order to book a ticket to the round of 16, in which the top eight competitors from the two groups — east and west — compete.

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 will likely 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.

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