Chinanews client, Beijing, November 18th (Bian Liqun) Less than a week has passed since the end of the special season of the Super League, but "BIG4" has no time to stop at this time.

In addition to Guangzhou Evergrande, which will start later, Shanghai Shenhua, Beijing Guoan and Shanghai SIPG have gathered in Doha, Qatar.

On the evening of the 18th, Shanghai Shenhua will make the debut of the Super League team after the AFC East Asian quarterfinals.

Like the Super League, the AFC is also destined to be a different season from the past.

Shenhua arrived in Doha, Qatar.

  How difficult it is to compete in the AFC this season has been revealed from the moment of departure from SIPG and Shenhua.

Due to the prevention and control of the epidemic, the two teams used chartered flights to go to Doha.

  Upon arrival, the players put on protective clothing and goggles.

It was not until the evening of the 16th Beijing time, after waiting for nucleic acid test results in a hotel room isolation for more than a day, the Shenhua team ushered in the first ball training after arriving at the station, which is less than their glorious match with the Australian team Perth. 48 hours.

  In addition, in isolation, only small and simple box lunches can be eaten in the room, which creates another difficulty for athletes.

Data map: Jin Xinyu (left), who helped Shenhua win the FA Cup last season, suffered a long-term injury this season.

  Of course, compared with these external factors, the disorganized lineup is a bigger problem facing the four Super League teams.

Shanghai Shenhua, who played this evening, is likely to face the "All China Class" situation again. Foreign aid Jin Xinyu and Moreno are both injured. The injured Bollanos and new foreign aid Martinez are directly out of the AFC Champions League list. Therefore, Shenhua's foreign aid team is nothing more than Mbia.

  As for domestic players, Yang Xu, Zhao Mingjian and Zhu Chenjie also missed out due to injuries.

However, fortunately, Shenhua recalled Jiang Shenglong, Gaodi, Zhou Junchen, Zhu Jianrong and other players who had previously been rented out, reducing some of the adverse effects.

Paulinho announced that he missed the AFC Champions League due to injury.

  In addition to Shenhua, the other three Super League teams are also facing more or less the problem of incomplete lineups.

As a result of returning to the national team to compete, Guoan lost the team shooter Bakambu.

For SIPG, goalkeeper Yan Junling was absent due to an eye injury, and foreign forward Anautovic returned to the national team to compete.

  Guangzhou Evergrande’s adverse impact is probably second only to Shanghai Shenhua. The team’s core Paulinho was absent from the list due to injury. Although Zheng Zhi, Gao Zhunyi and Li Xuepeng were selected, they are still in doubt.

  There is also uncertainty as to whether Evergrande can quickly adapt to the game without Paulinho.

Perhaps Goolat, who ended his loan early and returned to the team, will become the deciding factor, but the two have different technical characteristics and great differences in the degree of tacit understanding with their teammates.

Data map: In the AFC Champions League group match in February, Guoan defeated the Thai team Chiang Rai United 1-0 with Wang Ziming's goal, and won a good start to the season.

Image source: Osports All Sports Photo Agency

  Affected by the epidemic, the AFC Champions League this season cancelled the home and away games, but adopted a centralized game system like the Chinese Super League.

The East Asian group stage will be held from November 18th to December 4th. SIPG and Shenhua will play 6 matches in 17 days. Guoan, who had played one game before the AFC suspension, will play 5 matches. Guangzhou Evergrande withdrew from the same group of rival Johor and only needed to play 4 games.

But regardless of the number of games, the rhythm of the four Super League teams is basically every three days.

  The intensive schedule brings a great test to physical fitness.

If the previous Chinese Super League games can still grit their teeth and hold on, then in the AFC stadium, "BIG4" is likely to face a weakened situation.

At the end of the season, SIPG and Guoan's focus strategy was dull, partly due to the exhaustion of the physical fitness of the two teams.

Photo courtesy of the Chinese Super League/IC photo

  In fact, at the end of the Super League season, many teams can already be seen showing fatigue.

After all, as many as 20 games have been played in the past 4 months, which is unprecedented in the domestic league.

The AFC and the Super League are seamlessly connected, and the players have no time to breathe.

  In this regard, the Korean team and the Japanese team are relatively loose.

Because the start was earlier than the Chinese Super League, the South Korean team had already played 27 K-League games in early November, and there was at least half a month to adjust before going to the AFC Champions League.

The Japanese J-League, which is still in progress, is slightly looser than the Super League in terms of competition intensity due to the long season span.

  According to the experience of previous seasons, many Chinese super teams will show fatigue around the 20th round, so there will be fluctuations in performance.

For "BIG4" participating in the AFC Champions League, this is a tipping point.

But the three-day-one game of the AFC does not give much room for adjustment, which means that it is very likely that there will be a "swamp" situation.

The first two rounds of "BIG4".

Image source: AFC Official Weibo

  Of course, there is also a positive side to the AFC Champions League this season. The knockout stage will be changed from the previous two-round match to a single match, which greatly increases the chances.

  In the previous match in West Asia, the Iranian "civilian team" Persepolis drew a draw against the Saudi giants Riyadh Crescent in the semifinals, and eventually won the penalty shootout and entered the final.

  Moreover, the previous Chinese Super League, which was biased towards the nature of the Cup, produced a surprise result of Jiangsu Suning winning the championship.

If they can overcome the difficulties of the group stage, everything is possible for the Super League teams in the knockout stage.

(Finish)