At the end of the tournament, Wuhan Sanzhen's head coach Gao Mian faced the Japanese soccer media footballzone and made an in-depth analysis of the Chinese Super League's competitive position in Asian soccer. He pointed out that compared to the epidemic-ravaged past, the overall strength of Chinese soccer has been significantly improved, however, the dominance of Japan and South Korea in the Asian arena is still not to be underestimated.
According to yahoo sports, the epidemic has had a profound impact on the global soccer landscape, and Chinese soccer is no exception. Since the re-launch of the AFC Champions League in 2020, the country's teams have generally competed with young players as their mainstay. At the same time, impacted by multiple factors such as the bursting of the real estate bubble, well-known clubs such as Guangzhou Evergrande have shrunk dramatically in size, and their competitiveness on the Asian stage has also weakened.
Shandong Taishan, for example, faced Urawa Red Diamonds in last season's AFC Champions League group stage and sent a lineup without a single starter, resulting in a 0-5 defeat in the two-legged match. However, in this season's group with Yokohama Marinos, they almost touched the threshold of the group with an excellent record of 4 wins and 1 loss.
After a 1-2 loss against Urawa Red Diamonds, Coach Gao Mian confessed, "This game was crucial for us and we could not afford to lose. At the beginning of the game, we were under pressure from the home fans and struggled to play at our true level. As the pressure eased, we were able to capitalize on a few good chances to control the ball, but unfortunately, the penalty kick at the end of the first half left us deeply frustrated. It was an extremely tough away game. We were expecting to come away with three points, but in the end it was not to be."
In addition, in the process of leading the team to play in the AFC Champions League, Coach Gao Mian lamented, "Chinese soccer has also experienced the bubble burst and salary problems, but there are still some foreign stars joining the team, and the overall level has been improved. Nevertheless, in the AFC Champions League, Japanese and Korean teams are still strong. The competitiveness of the top teams in the Chinese Super League should not be underestimated either. I think we will be more comfortable playing away from home as we gain experience in the game.
It is reported that teams such as Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai SIPG have been among the knockout rounds of the AFC Champions League many times in the past and have shown great strength in the Asian competition. Although Wuhan Sanzhen have been eliminated from this tournament, they are expected to be potential opponents that Japanese teams need to be wary of given the reform of the AFC Champions League system.
