At 18:00 Beijing time on December 16, the second round of the Chinese Super League championship group is about to start in full swing, and a focus battle is played by Shandong Taishan against Beijing Guoan. This is the first Beijing-Lu derby battle of the season, last season's championship group 8 into 4, Shandong Taishan was eliminated by Beijing Guoan, this time ushered in the opportunity for revenge, the strength of the two teams began to open, Shandong Taishan among the number one favorites to win the championship, Beijing Guoan can enter the top three is an extraordinary play.
The Chinese Super League resumed after a gap of 4 months, and Shandong Taishan, who ranked first in the first stage, will launch an attack on the team's first league title in 11 years, and Beijing Guoan has won a consecutive championship since winning the Chinese Super League championship for the first time in 2009.
In the first 14 rounds of the first stage, Shandong Taishan won 10, drew 3 and lost 1, ranking first in the standings with 33 points, 3 points ahead of guangzhou behind them, and 5 points ahead of Changchun Yatai and Shanghai Haigang. In the 15th round, after Shandong Taishan defeated Hebei 5-0, the team reached 36 points, and the lead was extended to 5 points.
This victory allowed Shandong Taishan to win 12 consecutive victories in the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup, respectively 2-0 Henan Songshan Longmen (Chinese Super League), 5-0 Qingdao (Chinese Super League), 4-2 Shenzhen (Chinese Super League), 3-1 Guangzhou City (Chinese Super League), 2-1 Cangzhou Lions (Chinese Super League), 1-0 Nantong Zhiyun (FA Cup), 3-0 Qingdao Youth Birds (FA Cup), 2-0 Wuhan Team (FA Cup), 1-0 Wuhan Team (FA Cup), 1-0 Henan Songshan Longmen (FA Cup), 4-2 Henan Songshan Longmen (FA Cup), 5-0 Hebei (Chinese Super League).
The last time Shandong Taishan lost was in the ninth round of the Chinese Super League on July 27 this year, when it lost 1-2 to Guangzhou, and since then it has maintained a full victory in 12 consecutive games, and the state is very good, pushing Shanghai Harbor to become the number one favorite team in the Chinese Super League to win the championship.
Compared with Shandong Taishan, Beijing Guoan did not play well in the first stage of the Chinese Super League, and only in the last moment did it thrillingly qualify for the championship group. After beating Guangzhou in the 17th round, Beijing Guoan scored 27 points, ranking 5th in the table and 9 points behind the top of the table.
Last season, the two teams met in the championship group, when the first leg was drawn 2-2, the second leg Shandong Taishan lost 1-2, the total score was 3-4 by Beijing Guoan, and there was a huge controversial penalty in both legs.
Now that the Jinglu Derby has been staged again, Shandong Taishan is determined to win, and the overall strength of Beijing Guoan today is not as good as That of Shandong Taishan. The last time Shandong Taishan beat Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League was on June 30, 2019, when they won 2-0. The game attracted much attention, and CCTV arranged for the sports channel CCTV5 to broadcast live.