Tonight, Beijing Guoan takes on Shanghai Shenhua in the 23rd round of the 2023 Chinese Super League. For the second time to face the old rival Shanghai Shenhua, it can be said that Guoan is not the Guoan of a few months ago. After all, the coach is Stanley away to Shenhua. Opponent Shanghai Shenhua is also quietly changing, being dumped by the leader by more than 10 points.
Perhaps the only constant is that this is a game that neither side can afford to lose, and a game that Guoan doesn't even need to mobilize for. There are still eight rounds left in the league. There is no real point for Guoan to talk about winning the title now. It's better to focus on the competition for an AFC Champions League spot. In this way, the significance of the Beijing-Shanghai match has been "elevated". This is a game worth 6 points, and Guoan needs this win more than Shenhua.
Guoan's result is temporarily sixth in the table
After consecutive away matches, Guoan had 5 days of solid training in Beijing this week. With Li Lei and Park Cheng returning to the team one after another, the team's lineup is more complete than it was some time ago. It is also important for Guoan that De Souza, whose suspension is over, can reappear in this round "with fresh blood". 22 rounds of matches later, Guoan temporarily ranked sixth in the table. As far as the performance is concerned, it is basically in line with the overall expectation. After all, they have gone through coaching changes and personnel injuries, two-thirds of the season after the achievement of such a result, for the time being, quite past.
But for a team that started the season with the goal of returning to the AFC Champions League, this result and the performance in many matches were still unsatisfactory. So in the end of the season sprint stage, the team naturally hope to improve on the results. In two consecutive away games, Guoan won 1 and drew 1 to get 4 points. This performance allowed the team not to be distanced by the leaders or overtaken by the chasers behind them, giving the team the possibility and opportunity to continue to impact the AFC Champions League. In the next eight rounds of matches, the team will face three direct competitors with AFC Champions League qualification. They are Shanghai Shenhua, Zhejiang and Chengdu Rongcheng in the first round. They have only nine months compared to the last two matches.
The second "Beijing-Shanghai battle" may become a key game
If Guoan can take down their opponents at home, they could theoretically be level with Shandong Taishan, the third-ranked team in the league, after this round, which would be very favorable for the team's next journey. If they can't get all three points, Guoan is unlikely to fall to the eighth or even lower position in two rounds. From this point of view, this season's two "Beijing-Shanghai battle" is likely to become the key to Guoan's season trend. Before the home game, Guoan was also drawn by Meizhou Hakka and Tian Jinmen Tiger. Facing Shanghai Shenhua, who is currently ranked second in the league, you can't afford to be careless.
At the pre-match conference, head coach Luis Suarez came up and talked about how this is definitely a game that doesn't require mobilization, because everyone knows exactly what this game means, and everyone is full of energy and motivation. Facing Shanghai Shenhua, the Portuguese said the team is well prepared. He said: "Indeed, Shanghai Shenhua is very strong overall. They have a lot of good players and have always stayed in the first division of the league. Their ranking reflects their strength. Guoan has been improving. It is more important for us to focus on how to play this game well. I hope the players can win in a few seconds."
"Every player needs to perform at their best."
Although Guoan's "injured numbers" are returning to the team one by one, the team is still affected by this problem, so how is the overall injury situation of the team so far? Suarez responded: "Since the arrival of my team, I have been facing many injuries. Specifically, Park Yang hasn't recovered yet, Zhang Xizhe and Park Sung are also a bit injured, and some players aren't at 100% yet. As a manager, I need to make the best choice from the remaining players. All the players are equally important to me and it is my duty to get every player out of the best shape."
A game with no mobilization worth 6 points, is State ready?
