Despite the club's financial constraints, Beijing Guoan still invested heavily this season in an attempt to bring in strong reinforcements. In two transfer windows, Guoan welcomed four foreign players and five local players to join the team. Guoan's move is aimed at improving the team's performance in the league, which in turn will energize the Beijing soccer market. Despite their early exit from the league title race, Guoan's determination to qualify for next season's AFC Champions League has not wavered.
However, the current situation is full of challenges for Guoan to realize the goal. In the league table, Guoan is only in fifth place, three points away from Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang, who are in third and fourth place. The schedule is extremely unfavorable for Guoan, who must take all three points before entering the Champions League. In the last three rounds of the league, Guoan will face Shanghai Port on the road, Chengdu Rongcheng at home, and Shenzhen again in the final round. The match against Shenzhen doesn't seem to be a big problem, while hosting Chengdu Rongcheng has a higher chance of victory.
The difficulty of facing Shanghai Port is obvious, as the result of this match will directly determine whether Port can win the Chinese Super League title two rounds ahead of schedule. Guoan's players' fighting spirit has waned since Nakazu joined the team. In the AA era, Guoan had beaten Liaoning at home in 1999, with Gao Leilei's long range equalizer, which ultimately made Liaoning miss out on the league title and helped Shandong Taishan to double the title. In the CSL era, Guoan also challenged Guangzhou Evergrande on the road in the 2014 season, relying on Shao Jiayi's free kick to win 1-0, breaking Evergrande's dream of winning the title early. Now, Guoan is once again the "Championship Stopper", challenging Shanghai Harbor on the road. This match will not only determine whether Harbor can win the championship early, but also whether Guoan can qualify for the Asian Champions League next season. On paper, Guoan was slightly inferior. However, the players of Harbour Team did not show great strength. International players such as Yan Junling, Zhang Linlian, Xu Xin and Wu Lei have not performed as well as expected. Guoan is currently down to three foreigners, who are capable but lack sufficient replacement depth. Guoan's central midfielder Zhang Xizhe was banned for seven matches by the Football Association for an improper charge, relegating him to an early season, which has also severely weakened the team. Of course, life is just as hard for the Seaports, following consecutive losses to Henan, Batun United and Chengdu Rongcheng. It's not as if Guoan doesn't have a chance to take all three points on the road, and for the sake of next season's Asian Champions League and the team's honor, Guoan's men will have to wage a life-and-death battle with their opponents. If they can beat Shanghai Seaport on the road, plus one of the Shenhua or Zhejiang teams, and catch their opponents making mistakes in the last three rounds of the league, Guoan will see the hope of entering the Asian Champions League. Shandong Taishan are expected to win this season's FA Cup, and as long as Guoan can beat either Shenhua or Zhejiang in the league and finish in the top four of the Chinese Super League, they will be able to secure a place in the play-offs for next season's Asian Champions League.
