Shin Tae-yong spearheaded Ulsan's attack on the Asian stage for the first time in 4860 days...Best 11, the first match against Seo Jeongwon and Chengdu

Sep 17, 2025

Shin Tae-yong spearheaded Ulsan's attack on the Asian stage for the first time in 4860 days...Best 11, the first match against Seo Jeongwon and Chengdu
Kangwon High1 Arena/ K League1/ Kangwon FC vs Ulsan HDFC/ Ulsan Malkong Scoring/ Goal Ceremony/ Photo by Kim Jung-soo



Shin Tae-yong spearheaded Ulsan's attack on the Asian stage for the first time in 4860 days...Best 11, the first match against Seo Jeongwon and Chengdu
Ulsan Munsu Football Stadium/ K League1/ Ulsan HDFC vs Jeju SKFC/ Ulsan Rubik'sson, Cho Hyun-taek, Cho Hyun-woo, Malkong, Eric, Lee Chung-yong/ Victory Ceremony/ Photo by Kim Jung-soo
Shin Tae-yong spearheaded Ulsan's attack on the Asian stage for the first time in 4860 days...Best 11, the first match against Seo Jeongwon and Chengdu
Seoul World Cup Stadium/ K League1/ FC Seoul vs Ulsan HDFC/ Ulsan Coach Shin Tae-yong/ Photo by Jung Jae-hoon
Ulsan HD will play its first match in Asia, leaving behind the disappointment of advancing to the round of 16 last season.

Ulsan will play the first leg of the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) league stage in the 2025-2026 season against Chengdu Longcheng (China), led by coach Seo Jung-won, at Munsu Football Stadium at 7 p.m. on the 17th. Ulsan will play as the K League 1 champion in the 2024 season.

The best 11 has been revealed. Coach Shin Tae-yong took out his rotation card. In the 3-5-2 formation, Malkung and White Woo are located on the two-top. In the midfield, Rubik'sson, Boyanich, Jung Woo-young, Lee Hee-kyun and Choi Seok-hyun line up. Lee Jae-ik, Trojac and Signature Hall will play the three-back role. Cho Hyun-woo protects the goal. Compared to the starting lineup against the Pohang Steelers on the 13th, nine people have changed except for Trojac and Cho Hyun-woo.




As in the last season, the league stage will face eight teams in turn. They will play four home games against Buriram United (Thailand), Melbourne City (Australia) and San Proche Hiroshima (Japan), including Chengdu. On the expedition, Shanghai Port (China), Vissel Kobe (Japan), Machida Zelvia (Japan), and Shanghai Shenhua (China) will face off.

Ulsan failed to pass the league stage gate for the season. This season, they will reach the round of 16 only when they finish in the top eight of the 12 teams.

Shin Tae-yong spearheaded Ulsan's attack on the Asian stage for the first time in 4860 days...Best 11, the first match against Seo Jeongwon and Chengdu
Pohang Steel Yard/ K League1/ Pohang Steelers vs Ulsan HDFC/ Ulsan coach Shin Tae-yong/ Photo by Kim Jae-hoon
Ulsan is currently in crisis in the K-League. Coach Shin Tae-yong appeared as a firefighter, but after one win, he is winless (1 draw and 3 losses) in four consecutive games. The ranking has fallen to ninth place, and concerns over the promotion and playoff (PO) are approaching a reality.




Chengdu, led by head coach Seo Jung-won, has been running first in the Super League with seven consecutive undefeated games (6 wins and 1 draw). Felipe, a Brazilian striker who played for Gwangju FC in the past, is on alert. He is ranked fifth in the league scoring rankings with 12 goals in 24 league games. He will start against Ulsan.

Coach Shin led the team to the top of the ACL in 2010 when Seongnam Ilhwa was the head coach. He will be back on the ACL stage for the first time in 4,860 days. Shin's last match was against Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan in the round of 16 on May 29, 2012, when he was playing in Seongnam. At that time, he lost 0-1 and failed to advance to the quarterfinals.

He is challenging ACLE as Ulsan's first head coach in 13 years.






This article was translated by Naver AI translator.