Despite Beijing Guoan's worrying financial situation, they have continued to invest heavily this season in an attempt to bring in strong reinforcements. In total, Guoan welcomed four foreign players and five local players in two transfer windows.
The move by Guoan is aimed at boosting the team's performance in the league and in turn the Beijing soccer market. Despite its early exit from the league title race, Guoan has not wavered in its goal of chasing a spot in next season's AFC Champions League.
However, the prospect of Guoan realizing this goal is not optimistic. Currently, they are in fifth place in the league table, only three points away from Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang, who are in third and fourth place. Moreover, the upcoming schedule is extremely unfavorable for Guoan. We must win them all before entering the Champions League.
In the last three matches of the league, Guoan will challenge Shanghai Port on the road, welcome Chengdu Rongcheng at home and finally face Shenzhen on the road. Against Shenzhen, Guoan is expected to win. At home against Chengdu Rongcheng, the possibility of victory is not low.
The challenge for Guoan is obvious when facing Shanghai Port, and the outcome of this match will have a direct impact on whether or not the Ports will be able to win the title two rounds ahead of schedule.
As a Beijing team, Guoan has never lacked for fighting spirit, but since the addition of Zhonghe, Guoan's fighting spirit seems to be fading.
In the AA era, Guoan had held off Liaoning at home in 1999, equalizing with Gao Leilei's long-distance shot that eventually helped Shandong Taishan win the double. Entering the CSL era, Guoan had also thwarted Guangzhou Evergrande's arrogance, relying on Shao Jiayi's free kick in the 2014 season to beat Evergrande 1-0 away from home, shattering its dream of winning the title early.
Now, Guoan is once again the "Champion Blocker", challenging Shanghai Harbor on the road. This match is not only about whether Harbor can win the championship early, but also about whether Guoan can qualify for the AFC Champions League next season.
On paper, Guoan may be slightly inferior, but the Harbor's players are not as strong as expected. International players such as Yan Junling, Zhang Linlian, Xu Xin and Wu Lei are only slightly better. Fans are well aware of the performance of the league and the national team.
In fact, the real strength of the Seaports lies in the foreigners, with Oscar, Vargas, Joao and Caron all quite capable. After the early departures of Ademi and de Souza, Guoan is left with only three foreigners, who are capable but lack bench depth.
In addition, Zhang Xizhe, the centerpiece of Guoan's midfield, has been banned for seven games by the Football Association for unnecessary charges and his season has been cut short prematurely, which has dealt a serious blow to Guoan's overall strength.
Of course, the Harbor team is not having a good time either. They have previously lost consecutively to Henan, Batun United and Chengdu Rongcheng. Therefore, Guoan is not without chances on the road. In order to compete for the qualification of next season's AFC Champions League and the team's honor, Guoan's players have to start a life-and-death battle with their opponents.
Guoan is expected to qualify for the AFC Champions League if it beats Shanghai Seaport on the road and capitalizes on Shenhua's or Zhejiang's mistakes in the final three rounds of the league. Because Shandong Taishan is likely to win the FA Cup this season. As long as Guoan can beat Shenhua or Zhejiang and enter the top four of the Chinese Super League, they will qualify for the AFC Champions League play-offs next season.
