KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) are set to welcome former national team coach Kim Pan Gon at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Tuesday (Nov 5).
Pan Gon, who now coaches South Korean side Ulsan HD FC, will face Hector Bidoglio's charges in their fourth AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) match so far.
Ulsan, who won the ACL trophy in 2012 and 2020, have not been in the best of form and are currently bottom of the ACLE East Zone table without any points to show.
Pan Gon's charges lost their first three matches against Kawasaki Frontale (1-0), Yokohama F Marinos (4-0) and Vissel Kobe (2-0), which are all Japanese clubs.
Pan Gon, in an interview with AFC recently, considered the defeat against Kobe embarrassing and apologised to Ulsan's fans.
"I would really like to apologise to the Ulsan fans. We will do our best to bounce back quickly," said Pan Gon.
"Maybe we showed the Japanese teams too much respect, or perhaps not enough. A lack of preparation caused us to make a string of errors."
JDT have four points in the bag after they drew 2-2 with Shanghai Port FC and defeated Shanghai Shenhua FC 3-0 but dropped to fifth place in the table after going down 3-1 to current leaders Gwangju FC on Tuesday (Oct 22).
Pan Gon's status as former Harimau Malaya coach adds an interesting element to the JDT-Ulsan clash and the home fans are expected to be out in force at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
JDT, via their Facebook page, announced that ticket sales for the match have already started online.
"Each fan can online buy four tickets while season ticket holders only have to show their pass at the stadium entrances," said JDT on their Facebook.