K-League Playoff Bracket Set
By Kang Seung-woo
Staff Reporter
The bracket for the K-League playoffs has been set as the top six teams booked their places in the postseason on the final day of the regular season Sunday.
Third-ranked FC Seoul will play No. 6 Chunnam Dragons at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Nov. 21, while fourth-place Seongnam Chunma will host No. 5 Incheon United the next day.
The winners meet in the second round on Nov. 25, which will decide the semifinalist that will play against second-place Pohang Steelers four days later.
Jeonbuk Motors, which finished the regular season atop the standings, will play a two-leg championship series on Dec. 2 and 6 against the winner of the semifinals.
Seoul, a semifinalist in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League this season, missed an automatic qualification to the region's top pro club contest after dropping one spot with a 1-1 draw against the Dragons.
The top two teams from the regular season - Jeonbuk and Pohang - earn automatic berths in the tourney and the other semifinalist will earn the country's third Champions League entry.
Senol Gunes' side also met the Dragons in the season opener and handed them a 6-1 drubbing.
"It is a little bit weird that we met the first opponent of the first half in the final match of the second half,'' said the FC Seoul manager Sunday.
"But whomever we will play, it does not matter. We will try to win the title.''
The Chunma, the seven-time league champions which last won in 2006, has been directed into the playoffs by rookie manager Shin Tae-yong. They will begin their quest for No. 8 against Incheon.
United were on the brink of playoff elimination, sitting seventh before the final match with Busan I'Park, but they won 1-0 on Busan goalie Lee Bum-young's own goal.
With the victory, Serbian boss Ilija Petkovic's squad climbed to fifth place to set up the matchup with Chunma, against which it notched a 1-1-0 record this season.
The champion will receive a 300-million-won prize and the runner-up will be awarded 150 million won.