2022 is also the "sports year" that many sports fans are looking forward to, not only the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Hangzhou Asian Games, various world-class championships and the Qatar World Cup that fans are looking forward to will all be unveiled one by one, and the sports events that come to the scene, especially the various schedule arrangements caused by the arrival of the Qatar World Cup at the end of the year, have undoubtedly become a headache for the national football associations, and the Chinese football team is no exception, but for the AFC Champions League with a dense schedule, perhaps the Chinese Super League team can also seize the opportunity to put the previous one" Shame on you" and get it back.
Due to the global epidemic counterattack, the AFC finally officially announced the schedule of this year's AFC Champions League yesterday, and it is worth noting that the matches in the East Asian division have not been greatly affected and will be completed in August this year. Behind the seemingly beautiful schedule, considering that the national football team still has to play several round-12 matches, and the specific schedule of the Chinese Super League after that, the schedule ending in August may still be a headache for the Chinese Football Association, but the teams that are accustomed to the intensive schedule of the Chinese Super League may also be able to find good opportunities in this year's AFC Champions League, especially the Shandong Taishan team, which is the double champion of the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup in 2021, can still rely on its own strength to compete with the Asian powers.
Yesterday, the AFC official announced the specific time of the 2022 AFC Champions League draw ceremony , which will be held online at 2:00 p.m. Beijing time on Monday, January 17. According to the current AFC plan, in the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage, the East Asian Zone and the West Asia Zone are divided into five groups, with four teams in each group. In the end, the first group of each group and the second of the top three best group will advance to the knockout stage, and the defending champion Riyadh Crescent will be drawn as the first team in West Asia. Chinese Super League teams Shandong Taishan and Shanghai SIPG are the first team in East Asia and Guangzhou are in the second gear, and Changchun Yatai, who needs to participate in the play-off competition, will become the fourth team if he can get into the main tournament.
The specific schedule known so far is as follows:
West Asia
Group Stage: 7-27 April 2022 (with a double round robin)
Quarter-finals: 3-4 February 2023 (single-match tiebreaker)
Quarter-finals: 7 February 2023 (single-match tiebreaker)
Semi-finals: 10 February 2023 (single-match tiebreaker)
East Asia
Group Stage: 15 April – 1 May 2022 (with a double round robin)
Quarter-finals: 18-19 August 2022 (single-match winner)
Quarter-finals: 22 August 2022 (single-match tiebreaker)
Semi-finals: 25 August 2022 (single-match tiebreaker)
AFC Champions League Final: 19 February 2023 and 26 February 2023 (West Asian teams host and then away)
Because of the impact of various problems last year, domestic clubs have given up the idea of competing for the AFC Champions League, just sending two teams to participate in the game to "hone" new players, but this negative attitude to the game has also led the AFC to warn the Chinese Football Association and the teams, if it continues, China can no longer get the AFC Champions League quota, which is undoubtedly something that the Chinese Football Association does not want to see, so in the current situation, the national football team has no game task in April and May. Will the Chinese Football Association make compromises for teams participating in the AFC Champions League and make special arrangements for the start time of the Chinese Super League? Although the Chinese Super League is somewhat depressed, but perhaps compared to the AFC Champions League quota, the Chinese Super League again compromise is not difficult, so that the Chinese Super League teams participating in the AFC Champions League may have the opportunity to be ashamed of the snow, in a long enough time to actively prepare for the AFC Champions League, in order to be able to get a good result in the AFC Champions League, at this point, this year's league shows a solid, determined and tough style of Shandong Taishan team can undoubtedly make a difference in the AFC Champions League. After all, whether it is a closed competition of the tournament system or an intensive schedule, the Shandong team has adhered to it and achieved impressive results, which is also an inspiration for many domestic clubs, there are youth training, there are echelons, shandong Taishan, which does not lack basic talents, is also a lesson for the Chinese Super League teams after the end of the "Golden Yuan Era", which is worth learning.
Although the premise of everything is still the specific arrangement of the Chinese Football Association for the Chinese Super League schedule, but considering the current situation of the Chinese men's football team and the timing of the AFC Champions League, perhaps the Chinese Super League can be compared to the end of the completion, so that the Chinese Super League team can participate in the future AFC Champions League with all the main forces and achieve a more ideal result.