With the 2022 AFC Champions League East Asian Champions League group stage in full swing, four teams have already said goodbye to the road to promotion. Two of our strongest teams, Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou, unfortunately fell, a result that made the South Korean media jokingly say: "Chinese soccer" really suffered a "regimentation" fiasco.
Article in-depth analysis: Although there are still two rounds of the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage yet to be played, four teams have already confirmed their exit, including China's Shandong Taishan and Guangzhou, Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai, and Singapore's United City. It is worth mentioning that China's Shanghai Harbor team has also exited the AFC Champions League stage.
The two teams from the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou in Group I and Shandong in Group F, failed to escape early elimination. Both teams fielded young players in the tournament, and each game was extremely tough in the face of adversity. Amidst questions about the quality of the AFC Champions League, both teams exited the tournament early after four matches.
Guangzhou, in particular, lost all four of their matches with no goals, conceding a total of 21 goals. Facing strong teams such as Ulsan, Kawasaki and Johor, they lost 0-3, 0-5 and 0-8 respectively. After losing all six of their group games the previous year, Guangzhou once again suffered a four-game losing streak, setting an embarrassing record for consecutive losses in the AFC Champions League. Shandong struggled to get a point against the Singapore Lions, but still finished last in the group, with a record of 1 draw, 3 losses, 2 goals scored and 15 goals conceded.
Vietnam's Hoang Anh Gia Lai also bid an early farewell to this year's AFC Champions League after a 1-1 draw against Jeonbuk on the 25th. They finished with two draws and two losses in their four matches, while Group G's Union City lost all four rounds of the competition, scoring one goal and conceding 12, and are also out of the tournament.
