With stars such as Paulinho and Augusto leaving one after another, and Arnautovic and Bakambu about to say goodbye, the Chinese Super League is a stage where five-foreign-aided teams can barely hold on to three or four, while several teams are facing wage arrears and operational crises. Matches are so intense that they are played almost every two days, and nine rounds of fixtures are completed in 26 days, factors that have significantly lowered expectations for the Chinese Super League before the sixth round of the tournament begins. Some of the fans have been lost, and the remaining ones are pessimistic about the quality of the matches, "as long as the internationals don't get injured, we'll be lucky", they said, not expecting much of a repeat of the classic matches of the previous years, when the Chinese Super League was dominated by a few big powers.
However, the Guangzhou Derby on the night of the 24th awakened the memory of the Chinese super high quality game. The whole game rhythm is compact, confrontation is intense, the attack with wonderful, naturalized players goals and passionate, coaches tactical adjustments show wisdom, 101 minutes of intense confrontation ...... this wonderful game, 3-3 score can not be fully summarized, read the second stage there are still goals, so people can not believe that in such an intensive schedule. Guangzhou team is no longer that eight champions, Guangzhou City team is a rotation of 10 people, the first only one foreign aid, Guilherme they were not until later substitutes on the field, but the two teams still dedicate this stage of the league's most exciting battle. Without powerful foreign aid, both teams relied on team tactics, which showed that there is still a better possibility for the Chinese Super League.
In fact, before the Guangzhou derby, there were already teams showing quality tactics. Due to the operational crisis, Hebei only had three foreigners with the team in the tournament, but its ground cooperation and offensive spectacle impressed the fans. Combined with an undefeated record in the first phase, they have three wins, two draws and two losses in the seven rounds of league matches played, with both losses coming on penalties, against Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Harbor. Hebei's head coach Kim Jong-oh said, "Our biggest highlight was the smooth arrangement of the offense, and unfortunately the lack of a striker." Had it not been for the last-minute departure of senior center forward Malcolm Malcolm due to unpaid wages, it is entirely possible that Hebei would have achieved a better result. Despite a partial payment of back wages, Hebei are still the team with the worst existential crisis in the Chinese Super League right now, and they were even in danger of dropping out of the competition due to the slow progress of the shareholding reform. Yet they are still among the league's title contenders with their best performances. The reason is that in every minute of the Chinese Super League matches, they give their best and faithfully execute the tactical arrangements of the coaches. It is not an exaggeration to say that Hebei is the most watchable team in the Chinese Super League right now.
Both the Guangzhou derby and Hebei's performance proved that, despite numerous practical difficulties, and even though the ecology of the Chinese Super League has been turned upside down compared to the previous era of gold-dollar soccer, we are still capable of pursuing high-quality matches, we are still capable of pursuing more aesthetically pleasing tactical combinations, and we are even able to expect more from our homegrown players.
It's worth mentioning that there are three more top-level matchups to look forward to in the coming week: Guangzhou's match with Shandong Taishan on the 27th, Beijing Guoan's match with Shanghai Harbor on the 28th, and the Shanghai Derby on the 31st.
Taishan and Guangzhou are the top two teams in Guangzhou respectively. Taishan shut out Guangzhou with Fellaini's goal in the first round of the matchup, but Guangzhou's offense has opened up after the second stage kicked off. In the three rounds of the league from the 6th round to the 8th round, both teams won 2 and drew 1, but Guangzhou scored 12 goals, showing a horrible attacking power. The two teams are separated by 3 points in the table, limiting and chasing will make this a very exciting competition. The match between Beijing Guoan and Shanghai Seaport is also the focus of the past few seasons of the Chinese Super League, if not for the rescheduling of the 8th round of the Chinese Super League match in Suzhou due to the typhoon landfall, Beijing Guoan will have to play against Shanghai Shenhua, who has five full foreign aiders, and then touch Shanghai Seaport, which may be difficult to win, but the rescheduling of the match has given Guoan a very good breathing space and adjustments, and as long as rest and recuperation is in place, the two teams, which also have two foreign aiders, will have As long as the rest is in place, the two teams, also with two foreign aiders, will have a comparable match. Knowing that Guoan has entered the relegation zone in Suzhou, this match is the best time for them to get back to the championship zone. Finally, the Shanghai Derby is never short of a classic game, not to mention that the two teams are now only one point apart, five foreign aid in the team's recent good condition of the Shanghai Shenhua, 28 against the Wuhan team, their consumption is certainly less than against Beijing Guoan's Shanghai Harbor, the Shanghai Derby this time should be able to play than the Guangzhou Derby a more exciting showdown, 1-1 obviously can not satisfy the fans.
Refuse to put up a fight, we can do better! It shouldn't be just a slogan; after all, we have no choice but to stand on our own two feet, and self-imposed exile in a quagmire will only drive our league deeper and deeper into the muck.
