The 29th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) came to an end with Dalian People shaking hands with Qingdao Hainiu 2-2 on the road, while Nantong Zhiyun swept Meizhou Hakka 4-0 on the road, with both teams fighting for relegation in the final round.
Nantong Zhiyun are currently in the bottom three of the table with 22 points and will host Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, who are eighth in the league, while Dalian Ren are in the bottom two with 20 points and their opponent in the final round is Shanghai Seaport, who have already won the championship in advance.
In the final round, Nantong Jiyun will be relegated if they win, and if they draw or lose, the relegation will depend on the match between Dalian Ren and Seaport as they are in a disadvantageous position in the encounter with Dalian Ren; the only way for Dalian Ren to be relegated is to beat Seaport at home.
By Jia Yanfeng: 2-2, Dalian People drew with Qingdao on the road, while their relegation rivals Nantong Zhiyun unexpectedly beat Meizhou Hakka on the road to take all three points. As a result, Dalian once again slipped into the relegation zone. Nantong is 2 points ahead of Dalian, so if Dalian want to stay in the relegation zone, they not only need to win against Harbor, but also hope that Jinmen Tigers can at least draw against Nantong Jiyun.
Some fans said that completing relegation in such conditions is at least a fairy tale, if not a myth - fairy tales are usually only heard of, never seen. Even if Dalian won against Seaport, who had already won the title, the equally uninspiring Jinmen Tigers did not have enough reasons to stop Nantong Jiyun.
This is not the first time that a Dalian team is in a relegation crisis, after Zhao Mingyang, Sun Xishuang, Wang Jianlin and other investors have worked together to save Dalian soccer, they invested nearly 10 billion in capital, almost in a charitable way to support Dalian soccer, especially Albin and Dalian party period, the investment is far more than the revenue.
The main reason for the massive withdrawal of state-owned capital from China's professional leagues is that the state does not allow state assets to be invested in the zero-income soccer industry, nor does it allow state capital to be lost at will. But for the private sector, it is also facing the same dilemma of serious capital loss and not being able to make ends meet, so if Dalian soccer is relegated, it will be difficult to find private companies to take over again. The team may face the risk of dissolution.
Despite the fact that Wanda has an agreement with the city government promising to settle all outstanding debts, the third year of the agreement is still pending and Wanda has no reason to take the initiative to pay off the debt at this time. Due to the changes in the club's top management, no one is equipped with enough power to lobby the government and Boss Wang to continue to support the Dalianese and keep the team alive. Chairman Wang Jianlin has already bit the bullet and transfused blood for the sake of integrity in many matters, but this transfusion should be based on a shared appreciation or reward, rather than relying on him alone.
If Dalian Ren can be relegated, there is still a chance; once relegated to the Central League, the team will face a huge debt and an uncertain future, and there is also the debt-free Central League team of Dalian Zhixing to consider. The cost of feeding Zhixing, also a Central League One team, is far less than that of Dalian Ren.
From the era of one side to the present, Wanda Group to the club blood transfusion of billions of dollars, in the premise of no investment necessity and claims to adhere to such a long time, it is rare, but people will be tired. Even if the team relegated, if the responsibility and burden are on Wanda, next year can survive, then the year after? If Wanda invests heavily in debt relief but is unable to change the team's fate, then Wanda will also consider the ratio of investment to return.
The team's debt crisis did not suddenly erupt, but two seasons have passed and there is still no program regarding the team's long-term development and planning. How can this kind of precariousness give Wanda any incentive to pay off the huge debt?
Therefore, for the current Dalian people, there is no need to think too far ahead. Many players may have experienced team relegation more than once, but if the team is relegated this time, what will be buried is not only the history of the team, but also the goals and dreams of Dalian's youth training players, and at the same time, there will only be one Changchun Yatai left in the Chinese Super League in the three eastern provinces.
In the final round of the Chinese Super League, if the Dalianese players don't want to leave regrets in their careers, and if they still have a shred of pride and dignity, they should go all out to fight for relegation.
In this way, even if the Dalian people relegated, this team also deserves respect and regret. Because in the body of Dalian people, showing the characteristics and character of Chinese soccer should be. Not afraid of no money, not afraid of suffering, but afraid of no hope; not much money, people are not strong, but the hearts of the people, but also can play a world, such as the 2022 season; 2023 season, although difficult, but Dalian people insisted on the last round, even in the case of 0-2 down, but also can tie the opponent, do not give up. Dalian People is one of the few teams in recent years that never give up despite poor results, don't put up a bad fight and can pass on positive energy.
Therefore, in the final round of the Chinese Super League, Dalian people need the support of Dalian fans, and also hope that there are representatives from the city to express the attitude of support, at least in the stands of Dalian Zhixing's first-place rush, there are important leaders from the Dalian Municipal Bureau of Sports, and the Dalian people also need such encouragement.
Relegation, what it takes is a city's effort.
By Jiang Hai, Special Correspondent: On October 29, the penultimate round of the 2023 Chinese Super League season started at the same time, Nantong Zhiyun challenged Meizhou Hakka on the road, and finally took all three points with a score of 4-0, moving up to the bottom three, and a win in the final round will guarantee relegation success.
After losing 0-1 to Shanghai Shenhua at home in the last round, Nantong Zhiyun's relegation situation was once precarious, the last two rounds they have to play away against Meizhou Hakka and home against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, even if they win all of them, they still need to look at the face of Dalian People's team and in the meeting with Dalian People's disadvantage, so as long as Dalian People's team win all of the last two games, Nantong Zhiyun in the last two rounds, no matter what kind of result will become the second relegation team in this season's Chinese Super League. Therefore, as long as the Dalian people win all the last two matches, Nantong Zhiyun will become the second team to be relegated in this season's Chinese Super League no matter what kind of result they get in the last two rounds.
Therefore, the match against Meizhou Hakka was a "can't afford to lose" final for Nantong Zhiyun, and the team had already suffered 5 consecutive defeats, and was in desperate need of a point to boost their morale. Fortunately, Nantong Zhiyun started the game very well, with Jiang Zilei breaking the deadlock in the 12th minute of the game. The following game, Nantong Zhiyun played smoothly: Castillo built a goal in the 64th minute, 2-0, to extend the lead; in the 89th minute, Morellato added a goal, 3-0; in the second minute of the extra time, Zheng Haoqian broke the ball and broke through the goal, 4-0 to lock the victory.
By winning this game, Nantong Zhiyun also gave Meizhou Hakka their first loss in the last 5 rounds of matches, and at the same time, Nantong Zhiyun also took the relegation fate into their own hands. Overall, Nantong Zhiyun's performance in the Chinese Super League this season is not ideal, and they need to reflect on their own problems and find ways to solve them.
Before this round against Meizhou Hakka, Nantong Zhiyun and Dalian Ren shared 19 points, but due to the inferiority of win-loss relationship, Nantong Zhiyun is in the relegation zone. In this match against Meizhou Hakka, Dalian People's team is on the road to challenge Qingdao Sea Cowboys. Compared to Nantong Zhiyun's away win, Dalian Ren scored two goals after being down 0-2, but in the end they failed to beat their opponents and only got one point. Although Dalian People showed admirable fighting spirit in the game, they failed to get 3 points from Manatee and gave the relegation advantage to Nantong Zhiyun. After this round of matches, the title of the Chinese Super League has been revealed, and only one relegation suspense remains. In addition to Shenzhen, which has already been relegated, the other relegated team will be between Nantong Zhiyun and Dalian Ren. Winning this match on the road also gives Nantong Zhiyun a temporary relegation advantage.
In the final round of matches, Nantong Zhiyun hosted Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, while Dalian People were hosting Shanghai Harbor, who had already won the championship. With a 2-point lead, Nantong Zhiyun must win the last game. If they can get 3 points, they don't have to look at others' faces and can successfully relegate themselves at home. However, if they draw or lose, it will depend on the result of the match between Dalian People and Shanghai Seaport. For now, we can only say that Nantong Zhiyun has one foot in next year's Chinese Super League, but the team still can't let their guard down until the end of the league.
After the match, Nantong Zhiyun's coach David said: "As we expected, today was a difficult game, the opponent will not let you win the game easily, they played with the strongest lineup. We also executed the counter-attacking tactics we set up before the match very well, and it was also important that we didn't concede any goals today. The opponent is a very strong team, so the three points were also valuable for us, our players have been fighting like warriors. In the last game we need to fulfill our promise to our fans to take the game and go for the relegation goal, it's too little to say thank you any more to the fans, they are supporting us both home and away."
For the Dalian people, the team has been forced to the edge of the cliff, even if the last round of the home victory over the Shanghai seaport, may not be able to relegate the success, and Nantong Zhiyun in the case of the initiative, facing the desireless Tianjin Jinmen Tiger, still have to go all out. As the "only seed" of Jiangsu soccer in the Chinese Super League, Nantong Zhiyun has had a rough season, and now that it can regain the advantage of relegation, the team should go all out and use a home win to bring this season to a successful end, and at the same time, let Jiangsu soccer continue to remain in China's top league.
