Despite the club's unsatisfactory financial situation, Beijing Guoan still did not hesitate to invest heavily in bringing in players this season. In two transfer windows, they signed four strong foreign players and five domestic elites in one go. The move by the national security club aims to help the team excel in the league and in turn stimulate the vitality of the Beijing ball market. Despite their early exit from the title race, National Security's goal of qualifying for next season's AFC Champions League remains firm.
However, the current situation is not optimistic for Guoan. They are only fifth in the league table, three points away from Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang, who are third and fourth. Moreover, the next schedule is extremely unfavorable for Guoan. In order to enter the Champions League, they must win all their matches. In the last three rounds of the league, Guoan will face Shanghai Port on the road, Chengdu Rongcheng at home, and finally Shenzhen on the road. The match against Shenzhen looks pressure-free, but hosting Chengdu Rongcheng also gives Guoan a relatively high chance of winning.
The match against the Port was certainly challenging, as a win would have a direct impact on whether the Port could win the title two rounds early. As a Beijing team, Guoan has always been known for its fighting spirit. However, the fighting spirit of Guoan's players seems to be fading since the addition of Zhonghe. Looking back at the AA era, Guoan managed to stop Liaoning's path to the title at home in 1999. With their opponents leading by a goal, substitute Gao Leilei equalized with a stunning long-distance shot, ultimately causing Liaoning to miss out on the league title and Shandong Taishan to achieve the double. Entering the CSL era, Guoan managed to stop the arrogant Guangzhou Evergrande again that year. In the penultimate round of the 2014 season, Guoan challenged Evergrande on the road. In an unfavorable situation, veteran Shao Jiayi's free kick helped Guoan beat their opponents 1-0, shattering Evergrande's illusion of winning the title early. Now, Guoan is once again the "champion blocker", challenging Shanghai Harbor on the road. This match is not only about whether Harbor can win the championship early, but also about whether Guoan can qualify for the Asian Champions League next season. On paper, Guoan was slightly inferior to Seaport. However, Harbor's players were not as strong as expected. International players such as Yan Junling, Zhang Linlian, Xu Xin and Wu Lei did not perform well. Fans have seen the performance of the league and the national team for all to see. In fact, it is the foreigners who are really strong in the Harbour team. Oscar, Vargas, Joao and Caron are all quite strong. After the early departure of Ademi and de Souza, Guoan was left with only three foreigners. While they are quite capable, they still lack sufficient depth on the long board. In addition, Guoan's central midfielder Zhang Xizhe was banned for seven matches by the Football Association for unnecessary charges and was relegated to an early season, which has severely weakened Guoan's overall strength. Of course, the Harbors are not having a good time either. Previously, they lost consecutively to Henan, Batun United and Chengdu Rongcheng. Therefore, Guoan is not without a chance to get all three points on the road. In order to enter next season's Asian Champions League and the team's honor, Guoan's soldiers must fight a life-and-death battle with their opponents. If they beat Shanghai Seaport on the road and either Shenhua or Zhejiang make a mistake in the last three rounds of the league, Guoan will see the hope of entering the Asian Champions League. That's because Shandong Taishan is likely to win the FA Cup this season. As long as Guoan can beat either Shenhua or Zhejiang and finish in the top four of the Chinese Super League, they will earn a place in the Asian Champions League play-offs next season.
