AFC Champions League Group Stage Roundup
Chilling reporter reported that on December 13, the AFC Champions League group stage war, the Chinese Super League Taishan a one-two punch. Although the West Asian region of Saudi Arabia team sound, but in East Asia, Japan and South Korea still occupy the absolute advantage. The Chinese super investment has been sharply reduced, the face of Southeast Asia strong team is also difficult to occupy the upper hand, can only be in a competitive environment tough to survive.
The result of the East Asia Region match was basically in line with expectations, with three teams from Japan and South Korea joining hands to make it out of the tournament, and Taishan of the Chinese Super League battling it out alone.
In South Korea, Ulsan Hyundai, Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Hyundai managed to advance. Incheon United had a decent performance despite being a bit weaker. The team beat Yokohama Marinos with 12 points, but went out due to a small disadvantage. Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai were much stronger and played a stable group stage, advancing in the final round in a thriller. Coach Hong Myung-bo expressed his gratitude to Zhejiang for their help, and Ulsan Hyundai would have faced a knockout crisis if not for the draw with Melbourne. Pohang Steelers, on the other hand, played with an all-Korean squad and finished first in the group.
Japan's J-League teams have always emphasized the league, and in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, non-full-strength lineups still showed a high level of performance. eighth-ranked J2 League side Jafu Kazuhayashi topped the group, both because of their group and their own strengths. The Mariners didn't have a full strength team in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, but beat Taishan 3-0. Urawa Red Diamonds held back at a crucial moment in their late-season bid to qualify for the AFC Champions League, and ended up falling short at both ends. Kawasaki Frontale lost early hopes of winning the title, but invested more in the AFC Champions League and advanced with an unbeaten record.
The Chinese Super League teams sent their first team to the AFC Champions League again after two years and performed as expected due to reduced investment and lack of foreign aid. Except for Taishan, Sanzhen and Zhejiang performed poorly. Port was stronger and had better foreign aid, but unfortunately the game was a play-off. The overall performance of the Chinese Super League is equivalent to that of the Thai and Australian Super League, and the gap with Japan and South Korea is obvious.
Next year's reorganization of the AFC Champions League will see prize money of up to $12 million for the winner of the elite league and $4 million for the runner-up. Group stage win bonuses and away subsidies will also be boosted. Chinese Super League clubs will see the AFC Champions League as a battle for more rewards in terms of prize money. But with only 12 teams in East Asia next year and stronger opponents, the Chinese Super League teams will face a bigger challenge.
The good news is that three teams - Harbour, Shenhua and Taishan - will represent the middle over the elite AFC Champions League. In the West Asian zone, Riyadh Crescent, Jeddah United and Riyadh Victory all topped their groups, with the Saudi league hoarding top stars and improving significantly. Uzbek giants Mindanao also advanced to second place in the group.
Riyadh Crescent remained unbeaten even without Neymar in the last four rounds of the group stage. In the last two rounds, they only got three foreigners, and finally finished first in the group with 5 wins and 1 draw. Crow-led Riyadh Victory eliminated Dubai Young Nationals in the play-offs, and remained undefeated in the group stage. The advantage of the foreign aid configuration is obvious, especially on the offensive end.
Saad, Duhail, Persepolis and Tashkent Cotton Farmers all failed to qualify for the West Asia Zone championship. Al Ain advanced, but with no Saudi teams in the group, the gold content was reduced. Next season's AFC Champions League is reorganized into a top elite league, with Saudi Arabia having three group stage places. Cancel the foreign aid registration restrictions, Saudi teams will be more advantageous in the introduction of foreign aid, is expected to monopolize the AFC Championship.
Qatar's Summer City invested a record 160 million euros this season to bring in a number of star players, but most did not participate in the AFC Champions League. Saudi teams have significantly improved their strength and are likely to monopolize the AFC Champions League in the future. The competition for the AFC Champions League title will be more intense, and West Asian teams are expected to dominate in the coming years.
