June 26, Beijing time zone, came the heavy news: this season's Chinese Super League tournament system has been basically finalized, is expected to July 18, the Chinese Super League will be a new start. The league will first complete the first round of nine rounds of tournaments, and then enter the off-season, for the national team to prepare for the 12 strong tournament to reserve enough time. The third stage of the league is expected to restart at the end of December, another eight rounds, a total of 22 rounds, the system will be significantly adjusted compared to last year, abandoned the traditional two against two elimination system.
Premier League expected to restart July 18th
Currently, the national football team is under centralized isolation in Suzhou Xiangguli Hotel, nevertheless, the players maintain their daily training under the leadership of Coach Li Tie. Clubs have also begun to assemble for the second phase of the league. Shanghai Shenhua chose to go to Dalian for a two-week training, while Shanghai Harbor and Hebei FC chose to stay at their bases to prepare for the game. As of the 26th, the clubs have not yet received the adjusted league schedule and specific start time. A club official revealed, "At present, the team is around the time point of July 18 to prepare for the war."
All indications are that the possibility of the Super League resuming on July 18 is extremely high. 15 and 16 will see two bye matches between Guangzhou and Henan Songshan Longmen, and Beijing Guoan and Hebei. According to the preliminary plan of the Chinese Super League, the 14 matches of the first and second phases will be completed in nearly a month from July 18 to mid-August, with the 12-team tournament officially kicking off on September 2nd. During this period, the league needs to reserve about 15 days of preparation time for the national soccer team. This means that the league will basically keep playing one match every three days, which is undoubtedly a tough test for the Chinese Super League clubs considering the hot weather and intensive schedule.
Due to the fact that there are matches of the 12-team tournament in September, October and November, the national football team still needs to be quarantined against epidemics after the completion of the tournament, so the third stage of the league will probably be restarted only at the beginning of December. For this season's league schedule, the Super League has considered a variety of options, and there are even rumors that the season may only be 15 rounds of league matches.
22 rounds of league matches, farewell to the two-two screening system
However, multiple sources now indicate that there is a high likelihood of completing 22 rounds of the Chinese Super League this season, a schedule length that is the same as last season's, but the system is expected to undergo major adjustments. After the first 14 rounds of the tournament, Suzhou, Guangzhou, the two major regions will be based on the results of the ranking into the championship group and relegation group, the championship group of four teams will be with the top four in different regions to play eight rounds of home and away games, according to the points to determine the final rankings; relegation group of eight teams, as well. However, teams from the same division will not meet again in the third stage of the tournament.
For example, the top four teams in Suzhou, such as Shanghai Seaport, will play the top four teams in Guangzhou one by one in the third stage, but the other three top four teams in Suzhou will no longer play Shanghai Seaport in the third stage of the league. The points from the first 14 rounds of the league plus the points from these 8 matches will make up the final league total. The teams in the relegation zone will also determine their final standings and which teams will participate in the play-offs.
This adjustment greatly reduces the risk of chance compared to last year's two-round knockout system, avoids the unreasonable situation of a team in last year's league not winning a single game in the regular season but being relegated early, and is more reflective of a team's league performance throughout the year. The only regret is that each team is destined to miss out on playing four teams from different divisions this season. But under the existing circumstances, this is a no-brainer.
If the third phase of the league kicks off in early December, then the eight rounds are expected to be completed by New Year's Day.
