Morning News reporter Yu Jiong
The draw for the 2022 AFC Champions League was held yesterday at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among the four Chinese Super League teams that have qualified for the AFC Champions League, Shanghai Haigang was placed in Group J. The opponents that have been identified in the same group are Thailand’s Chiang Rai United and Hong Kong’s Kit Chi, and the other team is likely to be Japan’s Kobe Vissel.
Chiang Rai United were fourth in the Thai league last season and temporarily ranked seventh in the middle of the season. The Haigang team also defeated Chiang Rai United 1-0 in the AFC Champions League play-offs in 2018. Although Jiezhi is the champion of the Hong Kong League of China, his strength is really not strong.
The last team in Group J of the Seaport team will be generated through the play-offs (Visit Kobe/Australia’s second-placed team/Shan Confederation of Myanmar team). From the point of view of strength, the third place in Japan’s J-League last season, Vissel Kobe, is the most likely.
The harbour team is no stranger to Vistoria Kobe, led by former Barcelona star Iniesta. In the 2020 AFC Champions League quarter-finals, the Haigang team was eliminated by the opponent, and the score was 0:2.
As the AFC Champions League group stage East Asia and West Asia Division are the first in the group plus the best three group second advance to the divisional knockout. Therefore, the Haigang team not only does not need to face the siege of the Japanese, South Korean and Australian teams as in the past, but even if they win the second place in the group, they are expected to gain enough goal difference against the weaker Southeast Asian teams.
Among the other three teams in the Chinese Super League, last season’s double champion Shandong Taishan was drawn into Group F. The opponents were last season’s J League runner-up Urawa Red Diamonds, Singapore Lion City Mariners with former Shenhua foreign aid Jin Xinyu, as well as South Korea’s Daegu FC and Thailand. The winner of Buriram United.
The second-tier team Guangzhou team is divided into Group I. In the same group, there are last season’s J-League champion Kawasaki Frontale, Malaysia’s Johor Bahru, the winner of the play-off between South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai and Thailand’s Thai Hong Kong.
Chinese Super League fourth-placed Changchun Yatai will enter Group H if they can win the winner between the A-League FA Cup champion and the Philippines Kaya in the play-off on March 15. Also in the same group are South Korean champion Jeonbuk Hyundai, Japan League runner-up Yokohama Mariners and Vietnam’s Gia Lai Huang Eng.
This season’s AFC Champions League group stage is still based on a centralized system. Each group will play six rounds of double-loop matches in one place to determine the teams that advance to the knockout rounds. At present, the venues for each group in the East Asia region have not yet been determined.
After the results of the AFC Champions League draw are released, the biggest suspense is whether the Chinese Super League teams will play in this year’s AFC Champions League.
It has been reported in the past few days that the earliest possible start of the new season of the Chinese Super League is late April. Because the top 12 Asian World Preliminary Championships of the national football team will not be completed until March 29, and the time of entry and quarantine after returning to China is counted, which is this time.
And this happens to be in complete conflict with the AFC East Asia group stage. According to the latest time of the AFC Champions League this season announced by the AFC, the East Asia group stage will be held from April 15 to May 1.
If the league wants to make way for the AFC Champions League and ensure that the Chinese Super League teams play in the AFC Champions League with their main force, plus the time when the participating teams return to quarantine, the start time of the Chinese Super League will be postponed to June, which is likely to be unacceptable to the Chinese Football Association. of.
After all, there is still the East Asia Cup in July, and the World Cup and the FIFA International Match Day at the end of the year are also included. There is really not enough time for the Chinese Football Association to arrange the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup, not to mention that the Chinese Super League has expanded to 18 teams this season. team. Moreover, if the Chinese Super League continues to compress the schedule like the previous two seasons and cannot play all the rounds, the negative impact in all aspects will be immeasurable.
Therefore, under the condition that the epidemic prevention policy does not change, it is extremely unlikely that the Chinese Super League will make way for the AFC Champions League. This also means that the four Chinese Super League teams participating in the AFC Champions League in the new season are likely to be “separated” to play. It is estimated that, like last year, the lineup of the four Chinese Super League teams playing in the AFC Champions League will most likely be composed of substitutes and young players.Return to Sohu, see more
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