At 19:35 this evening in Beijing, the five matches of the 19th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) started. CCTV5, the sports channel of China Central Radio and Television (CCTV), broadcast three of the matches live on the same time as the Chengdu Universiade, the Women's World Cup, and the Swimming World Championships were broadcast on multiple platforms. Meanwhile, some local TV stations also joined the live broadcast. Tencent's various platforms have also fully opened online and mobile live streaming, although some events need to be paid to watch.
Relegation regulars Henan beat Shenzhen 3-1 in this round of the tournament.
One of the major attractions of this round of matches is the live broadcast of Shanghai Five Star Sports. The "Shanghai Bund Derby" between city brothers Shanghai Shenhua and Shanghai Harbor is of particular interest. Both teams have many international players. China's former CPPCC leader Chen Xuyuan's former hosts have current international players such as Wu Lei, Yan Junling, Zhang Linpeng, Wang Shenchao and Jiang Guangtai. Shanghai Shenhua, coached by Wu Jingui, also has new and old internationals such as Wu Xi, Yu Hanchao, Cao Yunding and Zhu Chenjie in their squad. Shanghai Harbor, on the other hand, has Brazilian foreigner Oscar, who played for Chelsea in the English Premier League. Despite the return to form of Shanghai Shenhua's foreign aiders such as Mallet, the overall strength of the team is still slightly inferior. In the first match of the season
Shanghai Harbor is at the top of the CSL table with 43 points, followed by Shanghai Shenhua with 8 points. If they win this game, Shenhua is expected to lock the Super League title in advance. However, Shanghai Seaport didn't completely lock up the victory.
The new Sichuan football team Chengdu Rongcheng hosted seven prospective foreign aiders at home against Zhejiang. It was broadcast live on Chengdu Radio and Television's public channel. Chengdu Rongcheng, coached by South Korean coach Seo Jung-won, has suffered back-to-back losses in the FA Cup, and was even eliminated by the China B team. Chengdu fans in Sichuan, long known for their provocative nature, were also hit hard. However, in the Chinese Super League, they finished third with 35 points thanks to the performance of their foreigners.
Zhejiang, which was in the doldrums at the beginning of the season, is ranked ninth in the table with 25 points, and two foreign aiders, Mu Xiekui and Leonardo, are among the top scorers, but their overall strength is far inferior to Chengdu Rongcheng, and the prospect of this away game is not optimistic.
The other three matches will be broadcast live on CCTV Sports client CCTV5APP.
Dalian Ren's away match against Meizhou Hakka will be broadcast live on Dalian Culture and Sports Channel and Guangzhou Radio and Television Nan Guo Metropolis Channel. Dalian Ren, coached by Xie Hui, are at the bottom of the table with 12 points after a good first round result, having won 17 rounds in a row. Li Huitang's hometown team, Meizhou Hakka, is also fighting for relegation as they are temporarily in 13th place with 16 points.
Tianjin Jinmen Tigers host Changchun Yatai. Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, the Chinese Super League veterans coached by Yu Genwei, have been performing well this season, ranking fifth with 29 points. Changchun Yatai, coached by Chen Yang, has 26 points and is in eighth place, also not worried about relegation. Both teams may face this match with a relaxed mindset.
Nantong Zhiyun hosts Cangzhou Lions, who are in 14th place with 14 points, third from the bottom and could fall into the relegation zone at any time. Zhao Junzhe coached Cangzhou Lions accumulated 21 points and ranked 10th, relegation situation is relatively optimistic.
