On August 14th, the Chinese soccer world welcomed shocking news: Football Daily revealed that the new decision of the AFC Champions League has made the future of Chinese Super League (CSL) teams bright, and the schedule is extremely favorable to them, which undoubtedly injected a shot in the arm for the CSL.
Immediately after that, the fire of the play-offs will be lit, with Zhejiang and Shanghai Port set to be challenged on August 15, while Wuhan Sanzhen and Shandong Taishan will advance directly. The Chinese Super League teams seem to have benefited greatly from the change in the AFC Champions League system. After all, the teams are in good shape after an intense league campaign, and the four teams are expected to get a head start in the AFC Champions League.
Soccer Daily further noted that the AFC Champions League group stage will be played from September 18 to mid-December, which could be the icing on the cake for Chinese Super League teams. After the Chinese Super League ends on Nov. 4, three rounds of the AFC Champions League group stage will remain, providing a great opportunity for CSL teams to grab points. Although the exact information is not yet clear, it is certainly good news for the coaching teams of Wuhan Three Town, Shanghai Port, Shandong Taishan and Zhejiang - Gao encouraging, Javier, Cui Kangxi and Jordy - and fans have expressed their opinions.
One fan chimed in, "It depends on luck, let's use Wang Frost's words! The Chinese Super League teams nowadays have almost no chance against Japanese and Korean teams, but Shanghai Port still has a fighting chance!" Another fan was optimistic: "Let's work a little harder, if our opponents lose in the World Cup, we'll have a chance; if we lose in the AFC Champions League, we'll be able to advance ...... counting, we're always that much closer!"
However, there are also fans who are concerned about the status quo: "Against the J-League and K-League teams, we are basically the send-off boys, without the support of big-name foreign aid, the gap between domestic players and Japanese and Korean players is too big!" "I hope that the AFC Champions League can be reformed to cancel the group stage according to East and West Asia grouping rules, so that Crow, Benzema and Neymar will have the opportunity to compete with the Chinese Super League team!"
