Helpless flowers fall away déjà vu swallow hard to return! Qingdao team regrets to be relegated to the Middle League

Peninsula all-media reporter Dukin City

Suzhou in January, the cold is unexpected. The Qingdao football team, which is competing in the Chinese Super League relegation play-off here, completed the second leg on January 12. Under the premise that it is necessary to win before it is expected to be relegated, Qingdao and Zhejiang team played a 0:0 draw, lost 0:1 after the end of two legs, regrettably relegated to the Middle League, and the winning Zhejiang team returned to the Chinese Super League stage after five years. The relegation of Qingdao football has once again lost the opportunity to show itself on the top professional football stage. What is even more regrettable is that Qingdao has never appeared at home in the two seasons of promotion to the Chinese Super League. No one can give an answer to the fate of this team in the future.

"The Strongest Team"

Still can't pull back the relegation

Qingdao lost 0:1 to Zhejiang in the first leg of the play-offs, and the second leg of the match on the 12th was only one way for Qingdao to win. Under such circumstances, Qingdao sent the strongest squad that can be sent at this stage. Unfortunately, this strongest lineup came a little late, and Qingdao finally failed to save the defeat and regrettably relegated to the middle division.

Foreign aid Vukovic, who had been absent for a long time due to injury, and Alexandrini started together in this game. Zhao Shi replaced U23 young goalkeeper Li Zhizhao to get the starting position again. In the back line, Li Peng, Zhu Ting, Zou Zheng three veterans partnered with Vukovic; in the midfield, Liu Jian and Lü Peng formed a double back, Zhou Junchen, Ji Xiaoxuan and Alexandrini organized the attack in the midfield; Zhu Jianrong served as a single forward.

The strongest squad of Qingdao team does have strong strength, and although Zhejiang team welcomed back The Chinese League top scorer Wang Mu Xiekui, it was still suppressed by Qingdao in the first half, and did not get a good chance to score, and the two teams played 0:0 in the first half.

In the second half, the two teams played more openly, and the Qingdao team, which fought backwaters, could only attack with all its strength, and the Zhejiang team focused on defensive counterattacks. Luck did not stand on the side of the Qingdao team this afternoon, replacing Gao Xiang, who had recently appeared in Ji Xiaoxuan, who strained his thigh during a big foot drive, and could only regret being replaced by Wang Wei; when the game was more than 10 minutes away, Liu Jian fought until his left leg was strained, and he could only leave the field helplessly. Qingdao sent cameo striker Wang Hao to the field at the last minute, and he did fight for a good scoring opportunity, but unfortunately he was not able to hit the ball within the goal frame.

The Qingdao players fought until the last moment but were unable to rewrite the score on the field, and the two teams finally drew 0-0 in the second leg. In this way, Qingdao team was defeated by the opponent 0:1 in this round of play-offs, and unfortunately relegated to the middle division. The winning Zhejiang team returned to the Chinese Super League after a gap of five years. On the other side, there was also a situation of "following the gram", and the Dalian team of the Chinese Super League was defeated by Chengdu Rongcheng and was also unfortunately relegated to the Chinese First Division.

"The most regrettable"

Did not appear at home in the Chinese Super League

At the moment of the final whistle, many members of the Qingdao team collapsed on the court, tears slid down their cheeks, and the Zhejiang team that overtook the success was crazy celebrating, such a contrasting picture made people sigh. Once upon a time, Qingdao was also the team that wantonly celebrated victory. In just two seasons, the Qingdao team, which has not yet appeared at home, has regrettably returned to the original point.

Qingdao team successfully overtook on October 26, 2019, when they defeated Shanghai Shenxin in the penultimate round of the Chinese League One season to complete the goal of overtaking in the early round. In the following two seasons, Qingdao team rose and fell in the Chinese Super League. During this period, he tasted the joy of early relegation success and also experienced the bitterness of 11 consecutive league defeats. Now, they have fallen back to the origin of the middle league again, and can only lament the cruelty and helplessness of professional football.

What makes Qingdao fans feel the most regret is the two seasons after the success of Qingdao team, because of the epidemic, the team has been experiencing the game system and has never appeared at its home. That is to say, Qingdao fans have not yet seen the performance of this team named Qingdao on the top professional football stage at their doorstep, and they have returned to the Chinese League one again. This has undoubtedly become the most sentimental thing for Qingdao fans.

Many Qingdao players in the Qingdao team have had the experience of relegation on behalf of their hometown team, and this time they have suffered a blow again, which is really difficult for them to accept. Many people shed sad tears after the game, and acting coach Yang Weijian comforted every player after the game, and at the post-match press conference, he said: "Here I want to thank my players, in a passive situation, from the beginning of the game to the end of the game. Qingdao is a football city that needs a Chinese Super League team. Unfortunately, we didn't succeed in relegation in the end. In the new season, all the footballers in Qingdao work together to return to the Chinese Super League platform."

"Most unpredictable"

What will happen to the team in the future?

In addition to the failure of the Qingdao team at the competitive level, more reasons for the relegation of the Qingdao team come from outside the field. It can be said that for most of this season, this team has not been able to have a stable internal and external competition environment like a normal team. What is even more difficult to predict than relegation is perhaps the fate of this team in the future.

Qingdao's final record in the Chinese Super League this season is 3 wins, 2 draws and 17 losses, accumulating 11 points, ranking at the bottom of the league. With 13 goals and 52 conceded throughout the season, it is the team with the fewest goals and conceded in the league. Because of the rules of the Chinese Super League this season, they did not directly relegate them but qualified to participate in the Chinese Super League relegation play-offs, but the final results also showed that they did not have the strength to continue to work in the Chinese Super League.

Qingdao has experienced many twists and turns this season, such as salary arrears, the resignation of the manager, and the full camp of injuries, and the two most important foreign players in the team, Vukovic and Alexandrini, did not start at the same time until the last game. As "second-year students" in the Chinese Super League, they have not been able to adjust to their state throughout the season.

In fact, throughout the Chinese Super League this season, there are not a few teams that have suffered from unpaid wages and injuries. Even the Qingdao team's salary arrears and operating difficulties are not the most serious in the Chinese Super League. However, as a "second-year student", the Qingdao team does not have the background of the Super League, and it is more affected when it encounters external wind and waves, leaving an impression that it is difficult to return to the outside world.

According to Yang Weijian's post-match statement, Qingdao's goal in the next season is to return to the Chinese Super League. But whether this team can get out of today's predicament is unknown. The Chinese League One already has two teams from Qingdao, Qingdao Manatee and Qingdao Qingchun Island, and even if they compete at the Level one, the advantages of the Qingdao team are not obvious.

Source: Mass Press, Al Jazeera