V-League relegation race: HAGL and Thanh Hoa Club do not give up, former champion in danger

HAGL is back

Before the match against The Cong Viettel in round 8 of V-League, HAGL was in a corner. Coach Le Quang Trai and his team had not won 6 consecutive matches, the attack only scored 1 goal, standing at the bottom of the table.

Although the season has not yet reached a quarter of its journey, it is worrying for HAGL that this season, the mountain town team no longer has a senior leader with enough ability to lead. With 15/26 faces at the U.23 level, HAGL is a true "nursery", with young players relying on each other to survive.

However, in the crucial match of round 8, the most difficult and shaky HAGL in many years won.

Đua trụ hạng V-League: HAGL và CLB Thanh Hóa không từ bỏ, cựu vương lâm nguy- Ảnh 1. — HAGL has its first victory in V-League 2025 - 2026

Taking 3 points against The Cong Viettel with the opponent's counter-attacking ability, thereby showing a strong message: HAGL will find it difficult to escape the relegation race, but the home team Pleiku will not give up. The team from the mountain town defended tightly, combined with quick counter-attacks, scoring 2 goals from set pieces (Jairo Rodrigues' header) and counter-attacks (Ryan Ha shot into the roof of The Cong Viettel's net after the opponent lost the ball in midfield).

The image of HAGL struggling to defend (receiving 5 yellow cards after the 86th minute) to preserve the result, even having to roll up their sleeves, even wasting time... shows that HAGL at this time does not need to be beautiful or attractive. The mountain town team only needs to win and continue to survive in the V-League. The young and fragile force does not allow Mr. Le Quang Trai's students to play fairly.

However, when HAGL started to become more resilient after each match and untied the heavy psychological knot that had been haunting them for the past 6 rounds, the mountain town team still had the energy to break through.

Also quenching their thirst for victory like HAGL, there is Thanh Hoa Club. The Thanh - Nghe derby against a "difficult" opponent like SLNA is an opportunity for coach Choi Won-kwon and his team to taste victory for the first time. As a result, the less bad team took all 3 points.

Đua trụ hạng V-League: HAGL và CLB Thanh Hóa không từ bỏ, cựu vương lâm nguy- Ảnh 2. — Thanh Hoa Club has an important victory

Thanh Hoa FC is not superior, but knows how to take advantage of opportunities. In reverse finals, a single moment is enough to decide the match. Having been through many ups and downs, Thanh Hoa FC is no stranger to the relegation race.

When the glory of the National Cup (championship in 2023 and 2023 - 2024) passes, the Thanh team needs to return to reality and collect every point if they do not want to say goodbye to V-League. Coach Choi still has a strong squad, with experienced players such as Ngoc Hai, Quoc Phuong, Xuan Hung, Thai Binh , and young players such as Ngoc My, Thai Son, Nguyen Hoang, Van Thuan...

With a good squad, Thanh Hoa Club deserves a better position, having removed the "lead" that has been on their feet since the beginning of the tournament.

Da Nang and SLNA clubs face difficulties

Having participated in the relegation race last season, both Da Nang Club and HAGL will find it difficult to escape the survival race this season. Because both representatives of the Central region have not improved in terms of investment resources, human resources, playing style and football thinking.

After parting ways with key players like Van Viet, Xuan Tien... SLNA continues to follow the philosophy of betting on young people. The only notable players in SLNA's experienced core team are Khac Ngoc (who has passed the peak of his career) and Van Khanh (mid-level), along with lesser-known foreign players.

Đua trụ hạng V-League: HAGL và CLB Thanh Hóa không từ bỏ, cựu vương lâm nguy- Ảnh 3. — SLNA (yellow shirt) dropped to 12th place

Leading the Nghe An team at this time is Van Sy Son, who has had an unremarkable coaching career after many years of drifting at Quang Nam Club.

Pure youth only brings inconsistency. SLNA can defeat the reigning champion Nam Dinh, then fall in a row with 6 consecutive matches without a win. Basically, SLNA is not better than itself in previous seasons, so unless many opponents decline, the remaining possibility is that the race to avoid relegation is still waiting for Van Sy Son and his team.

Similarly, Da Nang FC of coach Le Duc Tuan need to win to save themselves. Last season, the Han River team played enthusiastically when "the fire burned to the very foundation". When the excitement passed, Da Nang FC returned to its original pale image.

The sad story of SLNA, Da Nang Club or HAGL is the gray streak of "I know, it's hard, I've been saying it forever" of the former V-League champions.

Time has left these teams far behind. At this point, simply staying in the league is considered a success, and it is difficult to expect competition to ignite the once bustling central stands every weekend.