At 19:35, on August 30th, the focal point of the quarter-finals of the FA Cup will be played. Shanghai Shenhua will face Chongqing Tongliang Dragons, one of the strongest teams in China B, on the road. It's a battle of life and death between promotion and elimination, with the winner advancing to the semifinals and the loser bidding farewell to this season's AFC Cup campaign.
Currently, Shanghai Shenhua is third in the Chinese Super League (CSL) table with 42 points from 24 matches with 12 wins, 6 draws and 6 losses. Nevertheless, there is still an 11-point gap with Shanghai Harbor at the top of the table, and the dream of winning the Super League title has become unattainable. As a result, Shenhua has turned the focus of the season to the AFC Cup, and winning the title would be a highlight of the season for them.
Shanghai Shenhua will face Chongqing Tongliang Dragons in the upcoming quarterfinals of the FA Cup. Despite the fact that the opponent is only a China B team, its frontline offense is extremely threatening. Plus, the match stipulates that Shenhua can't use foreign aid and must play with a full Chinese squad, which will definitely make it more difficult for Shenhua to win.
On the eve of the match, Shenhua received two disheartening news. According to the latest reports from Five Star Sports, the team's star players Cao Yunding and Liu Ruowan vanadium are unable to travel with the team to Chongqing due to injuries, which means that they will not be able to take part in the crucial match. This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for Shenhua.
Cao Yunding and Liu Ruofan are both valuable substitutes for Shenhua's offense, with Cao's experience and Liu Ruofan's talent, and their ability to attack and make decisions at key moments is crucial to the team. Despite not starting, they were always able to turn the game around when they came on as substitutes. Now, due to injuries and illnesses can not play, Shenhua's overall strength of the blow is undoubtedly huge.
Originally playing in a full Chinese class, Shenhua's advantage in the away match against Chongqing Tongliang Dragons was no longer obvious, and now that they have lost two powerful strikers, it seems to have become extremely difficult for Shanghai Shenhua to beat the leader of the second division and break into the semi-finals of the AFC Cup. The pressure on coach Wu Jingui has also increased.
