July 13th, Beijing time zone, the second phase of the Chinese Super League is about to start with only two days to go. At this tense moment, the Chinese Super League officials have unveiled the fixtures and venues for the next nine rounds of matches. Guangzhou and Suzhou, the two regions hosting the Super League matches, are currently experiencing high temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius, and the teams will be facing an intensive schedule of almost one match in three days, making the challenge "extremely harsh".
One game in two days, four games a day, a tight schedule like this
Given that the national soccer team will be involved in the Top 12, the Chinese Super League had to temporarily adjust its schedule during this period. The league was therefore reduced from the originally planned 30 rounds to 22 rounds, and after a double round-robin in the groups, the eight teams in the championship and relegation groups will play a double round-robin (the same teams in the first stage will no longer play against each other), and the final accumulation of points from the 22 rounds will determine the rankings of the two groups respectively.
In the past, the Super League schedule required four match days for each round of eight matches, with two matches per day, usually kicking off at 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. This ensured that each match had a separate time slot, which made it easier for fans to watch the matches, and also increased the exposure of the teams. The team basically maintains a five-day-per-game pace with a relatively easy schedule. However, according to the official release of the new schedule, each round of matches has been compressed into 2 match days, with four matches on each match day, and 2 matches will be played at the same time in the same time slot. With two days between each round of matches, on average, each team will have to play a match about every three days.
The schedule is especially dense for several teams with a fifth round bye. Guangzhou, for example, will complete 10 games in 28 days.
Suzhou venue adjustment, Olympic Sports Center outfield opened
The second phase of the Chinese Super League will still be played in two zones, Guangzhou and Suzhou. The four match venues in Guangzhou remain unchanged, namely Tianhe Stadium, Yuexiushan Stadium, University City Stadium and Huadu Stadium. According to the Yangcheng Evening News, the Huadu Stadium, which was previously unusable due to waterlogging, has been fully repaired during the off-season, including the drainage system, and now meets the requirements for matches.
In Suzhou, there were adjustments to the venues. In the first phase of the five rounds of matches, the Suzhou Sports Center for hosting more events, need to carry out comprehensive maintenance, can not host this phase of the game; Suzhou Olympic Sports Center infield due to continuous rainy weather and the impact of hosting concerts in early July, the turf damage is serious, need to carry out comprehensive maintenance, from the 10th round to be able to re-host the Premier League games.
In this case, the Suzhou region could only find another venue. Previously considered Rugao Sports Center and Changzhou Olympic Sports Center due to the distance from the team's premises, and ultimately was not selected. After much weighing, the CFA, CFA preparatory group and the Suzhou District and other relevant parties to communicate, to determine the outside of the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center for the new venue; and the other two venues remain unchanged, respectively, Jiangyin Sports Center and Kunshan Sports Center.
"Players face tough test in sauna and barbecue
For the players, this phase of the schedule will undoubtedly be a tough test. Not only is the intensive schedule of one match in three days and nine matches in a month daunting, but it is also the heat of the summer.
July is the month with the highest average temperature in Guangzhou, and the forecast shows that the highest temperature in Guangzhou usually reaches about 35℃ in mid to late July. In July and August, Guangzhou's relative humidity of more than 75%, which means that the Guangzhou race is basically in the hot and humid environment, not yet started the game on the body has been sweating, as if the "sauna".
And just "out of the plum" in Suzhou, is now "barbecue" mode. The highest temperature in the past few days has reached 38℃, and after the second phase of the Chinese Super League starts, the temperature will be between 33℃ and 35℃. What's even more worrying is that the matches at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center are scheduled to be played at 4:30 p.m., because the lighting at the center doesn't meet the requirements for the matches. Although not the hottest part of the day, the afternoon heat wave on a three-volt day in Suzhou is still unbearable.
With such a hostile playing environment, it is unrealistic to expect too good a quality of play in the Premier League at this stage; the risk of player injuries could also be concentrated.
"Crashing" the Olympics, attention will also be greatly reduced
On July 23, the Tokyo Olympics, which has been postponed for a year, will open soon. The intensive schedule of the Chinese Super League and the highly anticipated Tokyo Olympics "collision", the level of attention is self-evident.
According to the Chinese Super League schedule, there are still a few "big games" at this stage: July 24, 8:00 pm, the eighth round of the match between Guangzhou and Guangzhou City, the "Guangzhou Derby" will be played in Yuexiu Mountain Stadium; July 25, 8:00 pm, the eighth round of the match between July 25, 8:00 pm, the eighth round of games Beijing Guoan against Shanghai Shenhua will be played in Jiangyin Sports Center; July 27, 8:00 pm, the ninth round of games Guangzhou against Shandong Taishan will be played in the Tianhe Stadium; July 28, 4:30 pm, the ninth round of games Beijing Guoan against Shanghai Seaport will be played in the Suzhou Olympic Stadium outside the game; July 31, 8:00 pm, the tenth round of games Shanghai Shenhua against the Shanghai Seaport The "Shanghai Derby" will be played at Suzhou Olympic Sports Center.
However, in addition to the above "focus of the war", the attraction of other games in front of the Olympic Games can be said to be dwarfed, coupled with its own tournament system, most teams do not have the atmosphere of the home field, so "no one applauded" may become the stage of the Super League's "norm"! "Normal".
