The first round of the AFC Champions League group stage in East Asia has been completed and the three Chinese Super League (CSL) teams performed differently in the round. Taishan beat Kaya 3-1 on the road, Wuhan Sanzhen drew 2-2 with Urawa Red Diamonds at home, and Zhejiang lost 1-4 to Buriram United on the road. Overall, the Chinese Super League teams performed reasonably well in this round of matches, with one win, one draw and one loss. The three teams will face a tougher test in the second round of the AFC Champions League group stage during the upcoming November holiday. Taishan will face Yokohama Mariners, Wuhan Sanzhen will face Ironmen from Pohang, and Zhejiang will face Melbourne City.
Looking back at the first round of group matches, the three Chinese Super League teams did well, as did the Zhejiang team in their disastrous loss. If you are unlucky and miss a lot of absolute chances, Zhejiang will lose, but not as badly. In fact, many fans had high expectations for Zhejiang. Judging from the starting lineup and recent form, many fans thought Zhejiang would get at least 1 point on the road, but they didn't expect it to bring them a crushing defeat. In fact, Buriram United is not a soft touch. It can even be said to be the biggest club in Southeast Asian soccer. Not only does it feature Thai soccer, but the addition of foreigners makes up for its shortcomings in other areas.
Buriram United is the famous Asian Champions League groundhog. It has played seven seasons of the Asian Champions League, essentially in the last decade. As such, they have more experience in the AFC Champions League in terms of recent years than any of the Chinese Super League (CSL) teams from Taishan, Zhejiang or Wuhan. Despite having only made it out of the group once in those seven AFC Champions League seasons, it would not be difficult for them to do so regularly in the future given their current strength and level of play. As far as this season's AFC Champions League is concerned, Zhejiang's level of group strength is not obvious, making Wurri South United the more promising team to advance.
They may have been just a player in the Asian Champions League in the past, based on the rising trend of Southeast Asian soccer, but now Southeast Asian soccer has risen to the top. They are really a competitive team in the Asian Champions League. At least they can fight against Chinese Super League teams. As a matter of fact, Buriram United also performed well against strong teams. They beat Guangzhou Evergrande, Jiangsu and even Jeonbuk Hyundai. Therefore, it is not surprising that they beat Zhejiang and Zhejiang was not wronged.
Of course, we shouldn't underestimate ourselves. Although Buriram United is a strong team in the AFC Champions League, Zhejiang dominated the game and was better able to capitalize on their chances when they returned home. With the momentum of the home field, it is not difficult to beat the opponent. Zhejiang hasn't played in the AFC Champions League for more than a decade, and the first game was a costly one, but as long as we play well in each of the next matches, there is still hope for us to make it out of the tournament. Of the three teams in the Chinese Super League, we are more worried about Wuhan Sanzhen. They are in an extremely tough grouping, so we can only hope that they can work together to get a good result.
