Tonight at 7:30pm, the 5th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL) bye match between Henan Songshan Longmen and Guangzhou is about to take place, marking the beginning of the fast-paced CSL. As the game approaches, we can't help but wonder: how will this competition develop? Currently, Guangzhou is in the hottest season of the year, which poses a severe test for the teams' logistics. Fortunately, Guangzhou teams are experienced in dealing with hot weather thanks to their home field. In the second phase of the Chinese Super League, teams need to play nine matches in 24 days, an average of one match every three days. Beijing Guoan, Guangzhou and their fifth-round opponents even had to play 10 matches in 28 days. Henan's performance in the first phase was terrible, with only 2 draws and 2 losses in 4 matches, placing them at the bottom of Group A with 2 points. Despite the return of foreign aid and financial problems that have led to a significant drop in strength this year, Henan's style of play has not changed, and one of the two draws achieved was with Shandong Taishan, the top team in Group A. The team has been playing in the first round of the World Cup for over a year now, and is now in the second round of the World Cup for the first time. In contrast, Guangzhou have not been as sharp as they used to be in the Chinese Super League this year. With the loss of foreigners such as Paulinho and Talisca, Guangzhou's strength has declined significantly. However, thanks to their previous strengths, their performance has not fallen off a cliff. Nevertheless, the speed and magnitude of Guangzhou's decline is still more moderate than that of Henan. In the last 5 meetings between the two teams, Guangzhou won 4 and drew 1, which gave them an absolute advantage. Considering the weather factor of high temperature and high humidity, Guangzhou may not encounter too much difficulty in this match. However, it is understood that Fernando is still unable to participate in training, which is undoubtedly a loss for the Guangzhou team. In the pre-match conference, Cannavaro said, "The team's preparation during the off-season was relatively difficult, mainly due to the insufficient number of players, as the international players had to fulfill the mission of the Top 40. Due to the small number of players, we did not play many warm-up matches, and only played one on the 9th. At this stage, our preparation is slightly different from the past, with 10 matches to be played in the next 28 days, we need to adjust accordingly for the schedule."
