On the night of August 15, the 2021 Chinese Super League (CSL) Gushu Division battle was revealed, with Beijing Guoan and Hebei locking up the top four spots at the last minute, joining Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Seaport to advance to the title contention group. Shanghai Shenhua, Wuhan, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Dalian People, on the other hand, face relegation challenges. Promotion horse Yatai's win became the biggest surprise, while Shenhua's relegation became the biggest surprise.
Three teams grab two seats in the finale, and State Guards defy Shenhua to stay up.
In the final match of the Gusu tournament, Shanghai Shenhua, Hebei and Beijing Guoan competed for two places in the championship group. Surprisingly, Shenhua and Guoan, two traditional powerhouses, faced each other directly in the final round for a place in the championship group. In the end, Guoan locked up the lineup in just 20 minutes, jumping from fifth to third place. Shenhua unfortunately entered the relegation group as Hebei also gained points.
Shenhua's failure to advance to the title contending group has a lot to do with the excessive age of the lineup. Shenhua holds the record for the oldest average age of a starting lineup in the Chinese Super League this season, and could have even fielded a lineup of all 30+ players if not for the restrictions of the U23 rule. The intensive schedule after the resumption of the first stage of the league is very unfavorable to the age of Shenhua. Although Cui Kangxi's resignation allowed Shenhua to usher in two consecutive victories, the aging Shenhua is still unable to catch up with the pace of the younger teams.
One black to the end! Promoted Ateneo takes sole possession of the lead
Changchun Yatai, as the only promoted team this season, has shown an outstanding performance unlike previous promoted teams. Yatai had a great start to the season, going undefeated in the first 5 rounds, and despite losing their first game after the resumption of the tournament, Yatai came back with a wave of 5 wins and 1 draw, gaining 16 points. After the outstanding performance of defeating Guoan and consecutively cutting down the Shanghai duo, Yatai finally became the first in the Gusu district table by virtue of the advantage of 1 win and 1 draw in the two competitions with the harbor team, becoming the blackest dark horse.
The reason why Yatai can achieve such a result, on the one hand, because the team's local players strength is not bad, on the other hand, because the team's preparation period is full, four foreign aid has been prepared for the game, and the internal aid has also made a strong supplement. Although there is still a gap between Yatai's current strength and that of several title contenders, in the second stage, they will certainly be an opponent that title contenders should not underestimate.
Big-name foreigners are leaving the team, and Harbor loses the title.
From the beginning of the year, Xavi and Hamsik left the Chinese Super League, to Augusto could not enter the country and chose to leave, and then Arnautovic said goodbye to the Shanghai seaport after the European Cup. Due to the dual reasons of epidemic and salary restriction, big-name foreign aiders have returned to the team, and currently only three big-name foreign aiders, Oscar, Bakambu and Moreno, are left in the Gusau Region. Among them, Oscar is the most famous and strongest, although he is still in Seaport, but Arnautovic's return to the team, but also the Seaport suffered a considerable loss, directly lost the first position.
Several other teams that lost their big name foreign aiders suffered badly in terms of results. Shanghai Shenhua ended up in the relegation group, and Guoan narrowly missed out on the championship group. Dalian people, not to mention, they not only lost Hamsik, Bao Dan Nielsen, Larsen failed to return to the team, Dalian people in the "quasi full Chinese class" situation can only end up at the bottom of the list.
Mixed Reviews for Korean Army Shenhua Bids Farewell to Korean Generals
Due to the return of big name foreigners, Korean players have become the more cost-effective foreigners in the Chinese Super League. Compared to last season, the performance of the Korean army, including Korean coaches, has been mixed this season, with mixed reviews from the outside world. The Hebei team, which was expected to have a worse record at the beginning of the season, has played a different kind of soccer under the leadership of Korean head coach Kim Jong-woo. In the team due to the club's financial reasons are in arrears, under the command of Kim Jong Fu Hebei team played blood, until the last round of the fourth position, and finally also by virtue of its excellent play into the group of title contenders, relegation was completed in advance.
Shanghai Shenhua was in a different situation, senior center forward Kim Shin-wook's form declined, far less than when he first came to the team, and his position in the club was even replaced by Bi Jin-ho, who was also removed from the registration during the summer transfer period. Subsequently, the head coach Choi Kang-hee, who led the team to a lack of improvement, also voluntarily resigned, and eventually Shenhua was not in the group of title contenders. In addition to Shenhua bid farewell to the South Korean general manager, Guoan also sent away the always refused to return to the team of Kim Min Jae, only played 2 league games this season, he has moved to Europe, for Guoan to bring a transfer fee, but also to make the last "contribution".
3 Teams Book Relegation Battle Early Dalian People Most Dangerous
In addition to Shenhua, who eventually fell into the relegation group, Wuhan, Tianjin Jinmen Tigers and Dalian People are the teams that have been in the bottom half of the table. These three teams can be said to have booked the relegation group in advance of the competition, and they have become a "strong contender" to fall into the relegation play-offs.
Wuhan, despite the delayed victory, is noteworthy for two things: first, they drew as many as 8 games, the most in the entire Chinese Super League, and many of the matches they had a chance to win; second, Wuhan is relatively well-staffed and has made additions to their squad in the second transfer, especially with the introduction of the national soccer captain Artemis Junmin, which has greatly enhanced the strength of the midfield. Although Baptiste has returned to the team, he has only played 2 games for Wuhan this season, and his departure is now not something the team needs to adapt to.
Tianjin made positive reinforcements during the summer transfer period, introducing local players such as Jin Yangyang and Wang Jannan, as well as reinforcements at the foreign aid end. After the resumption of the first stage they only got 3 points from Guoan, and with the same relegation rivals Wuhan, Dalian competition were unable to win, for Tianjin and rivals with a bad record, very unfavorable to the second stage of the relegation group competition.
Needless to say, the Dalianese lost all of their matches in the first phase, except for a double over Tianjin and a draw with Wuhan, and are now, along with Qingdao in the Guangzhou division, the two teams most likely to end up in the relegation playoffs at the end of the season. There are positives for Dalian, however, as they are the most youth-heavy unit in the Chinese Super League, and with Danielson already back in the team, Larsson has been given a clean bill of health to organize a return trip, and the team has registered Long Dong. With another super-long break to bond, Dalian will surely be a world of difference in the first phase after the reopening. However, the current situation shows that they are still the most likely team to fall into the relegation play-offs in the Gusau Region.
