With the 25th round of the Chinese Super League, fans have turned their attention to another focus of the tournament - the AFC Champions League. In the past, the AFC Champions League was like a shot in the arm for Chinese fans. In the national team in the Asian game repeatedly faltered, we have to pin our hopes on the various powerful clubs, looking forward to them in the international arena for the national football team to raise eyebrows. Indeed, under the leadership of famous managers and superstar foreign aid, the Chinese Super League team in recent years has achieved remarkable results, and even realized a qualitative leap. Guangzhou Evergrande won the AFC Champions League trophy twice, but along with the continuous decline in the level of local players, big-name foreign aiders had to find another way.
How will the Chinese Super League teams perform in the AFC Champions League in the absence of big-name foreign aiders? This question has left many fans both curious and helpless. I think this may be because we all want to know the real strength of today's Chinese Super League in Asia. The cruel reality that we don't want to face, but have to face.
As a matter of fact, the painful lesson of the AFC Champions League play-offs has already left fans with a bad taste in their mouths. At present, the strongest team in the Chinese Super League is undoubtedly Shanghai Harbor, but facing Thailand's eighth-ranked Pathum United, they were defeated at home by 2-3, a disastrous scene. This begs the question: after two years of the epidemic, are the Chinese Super League teams once again falling behind, or even falling out of step with the level of Asian soccer? With such questions, we are about to open the AFC Champions League journey. The first focus of attention will be on last season's Chinese Super League runners-up Shandong Taishan, who will be away to Kaya Philippines. Although we don't need to pay too much attention to the Philippine team, but 2 years without participating in the first team AFC Champions League, Asian soccer is developing rapidly. The rise of Southeast Asian soccer is not to be underestimated. Can we still take our opponents lightly? However, Taishan traveled with only 18 people this time, and the main players Fellaini and Wang Dalei were not with the team. Fans are worried that Taishan is not paying much attention to Kaya and are worried that the team will roll over. But in any case, there are still many teams to watch. For example, Xie Wenneng, the 22-year-old young player. Xie Wenneng comes from the Luneng Soccer School and has the right roots. In recent years, he has been loaned out several times to the China B League in order to train him. In last season's Qingdao Sea Cowboys, Xie Wenneng performed well, playing 33 games for the team, starting 32, scoring 10 goals and contributing 7 assists, making him the hero of the team. Thanks to his outstanding performance in the Sea Bulls, Xie Wenneng returned to Taishan this season. However, he missed most of the team's matches due to national call-ups and long training sessions. But recently, Xie Wenneng returned to Taishan with an eye-catching performance. In the 25th round of the Chinese Super League, he scored twice against his old team Qingdao Hainiu. First, in the 17th minute, Tong Lei sent a precise straight to Xie Wenneng, high-speed start to form a single knife, a beautiful shot, breaking the deadlock, which is also his first goal in the Chinese Super League career. Then, in the 24th minute, Wang Tong broke through on the left and passed back to Xie Wenneng, who skillfully scored to extend the score to 2-0. 2 consecutive times in the first half of the Chinese Super League, I have to say, Xie Wenneng's performance is perfect. So, with such a great start to the Chinese Super League, will he be able to continue his excellent performance in the AFC Champions League? After all, we can't rely too much on big-name foreigners, and young players should shoulder the burden of Chinese soccer. Do you think Xie Wenneng can shine again in the AFC Champions League?