After more than 8 months of sword and light sword shadow, the first New Year's Eve Chinese Super League season in history has come to an end with the end of the promotion and relegation play-offs.
Between the relegation of Dalian and Qingdao and the promotion of Chengdu Rongcheng and Zhejiang, the 2021 season of the Chinese Super League has been frozen.
Because of the epidemic and other factors, this season's Chinese Super League is still special. The interruption of the schedule, the empty court of the tournament, the existential crisis of many teams... But it is also in the midst of these difficulties that we see more resilience and growth.
In the Chinese Super League, which is played in an empty stadium, there is still no shortage of fans outside the stadium. Image source: IC photo
Hold
The biggest winner of the season is Shandong Taishan. With a group of club youth players as the team, plus the introduction of several cost-effective internal and foreign aid, Shandong Taishan team has sung all the way this season, winning the Chinese Super League championship after 11 years.
Under the background of the ebb and flow of the Golden Dollar in the Chinese Super League, Chinese football has once again fallen into the confusion of the trough, and the Shandong Taishan team, which insists on hard work, provides some guidance for the sustainable development of Chinese football to a certain extent.
Shandong Taishan team won the Chinese Super League championship after 11 years. Image source: IC photo
regression
Shandong Taishan team returned to the championship throne, the former Chinese Super League champion Changchun Yatai, as an old team, they showed a strong momentum in their first season back to the Chinese Super League. Changchun Yatai finally finished in 4th place and qualified for the AFC Champions League play-offs, which is also inseparable from a relatively stable environment and the emphasis on youth training.
Also returning is the Zhejiang team, one of the major players in Chinese football youth training, and the three towns in Wuhan and Meizhou Hakka, which they have overtaken this season, are also in the important football towns. Qingdao Manatee, once the veteran team of the Chinese Super League, returned to the Chinese First League after a few years of dormancy. Perhaps in the near future, they will also be seen in the Chinese Super League.
Changchun Yatai team has been in excellent form this season. Image source: IC photo
Isolated
There are many elements of the Chinese Super League this season, but from the perspective of fans, the conference system plus the vast majority of games are empty, they are still "isolated" from the Chinese Super League.
The fans waiting outside the Tianhe Stadium, home of Guangzhou, and the fans who accompanied Shandong Taishan's coronation outside the stadium... At the same time, it is also touching, but also makes people feel a little helpless.
Chongqing Liangjiang Athletics struggled to relegate. Image source: IC photo
tenacity
In this season, many teams have encountered existential crises, Guangzhou team, Hebei team, Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic... But these did not overwhelm them. Under the leadership of Zheng Zhi, Guangzhou won 4 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses in the second stage of the championship group, Hebei team successfully entered the championship group, and Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic struggled to achieve relegation in the final round.
After completing the relegation task, the soldiers of Chongqing Liangjiang Athletics gathered in a circle and cried bitterly; the team suffered an operational crisis, and the Staff of the Hebei Team issued an open letter pleading for unpaid work... They have become a different picture of this special season of the Chinese Super League.
After successful relegation, Chongqing coach Zhang Wailong fell to his knees and cried bitterly. Image source: IC photo
grow
Local players have become the protagonists of the team's destruction of the city, which has become a different scene this season. As big-name foreign players have left the Chinese Super League, more local players have been given the opportunity to play. Beijing Guoan striker Zhang Yuning and Shandong Taishan striker Guo Tianyu scored 10 goals to tie for fourth in the top scorers list, with the former also playing an important role in key matches for the national team.
Guangzhou midfielder Tan Kaiyuan, Shanghai harbor striker Liu Zhurun and other "post-00s" young players have also gradually emerged. These are a major embodiment of the role of the league, and they are also the rare hope of Chinese football.
A few months later, when spring is in full bloom, another season of the Chinese Super League will begin.
I hope that all clubs can survive this winter smoothly, and the equity reform problems and existential crises hanging over their heads can be solved as soon as possible. I also hope that the new season of the Chinese Super League can return to the fans.