The 2022 AFC Champions League draw ceremony took place today at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Of the four Chinese Super League teams that qualified for the AFC Champions League, Shanghai Harbour was divided into Group J. The group's identified opponents are Thailand's Chiang Rai United and China's Hong Kong's Jiezhi, and the other team is likely to be Japan's Kobe Victory Ship.
Chiang Rai United finished fourth in the Thai league last season and temporarily finished seventh with more than halfway through this season's schedule. Harbour also won 1-0 over Chiang Rai United in the 2018 AFC Champions League play-offs. Although Jie Zhi is the champion of the Hong Kong League in China, his strength is really not strong.
The last team in Group J to which Harbor is based will be produced through a play-off (Kobe Victory Ship / Australia's second overall team / Myanmar's Shan Confederation). In terms of strength, last season's Japan J League third place Kobe Victory Ship is the most likely.
Harbor are no strangers to the Kobe Victory Ship led by former Barca Spanish star Iniesta. In the quarter-finals of the 2020 AFC Champions League, Harbour was eliminated by their opponents, and the score was 0:2.
As the AFC Champions League group stage East Asia and West Asia divisions are both group first plus the best three groups are second to advance to the division knockout rounds. Therefore, the Harbor team not only does not have to face the siege of Japan, South Korea and Australia as in the past, but even if it is second in the group, it is expected to fight for enough goal difference on 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 against last season's J-League runner-up Urawa Red Diamonds, Singapore Lion City sailors with former Shenhua foreign aid Kim Shin-yu, and the winners of South Korea's Daegu FC and Thailand's Buriram United.
The second-pot team, Guangzhou, is group I, with last season's J-League champion Kawasaki Striker, Malaysia's Johor Bahru, and the play-offs winners between Ulsan Hyundai in South Korea and Thailand.com.
Changchun Yatai, the fourth place in the Chinese Super League, will be in Group H if he wins the AUSD Cup and the Philippines Kaya in the play-off match on March 15. Also in the group were South Korean champion Jeonbuk Hyundai, Japanese league runner-up Yokohama Mariner and Vietnam's Jialai Hwang Young.
This season's AFC Champions League group stage still adopts a centralized meeting system, and each group is concentrated in one place to play the six rounds of double round robin to determine the team that advances to the knockout round. At present, the venue of the east Asian group has not yet been determined.
After the results of the AFC Champions League draw were released, the biggest suspense was whether the Chinese Super League teams would play in this year's AFC Champions League.
In the past few days, it has been reported that the earliest possible start of the new season of the Chinese Super League is late April. Because the top 12 of the National Football Championship in The Asian Preliminary Tournament will not be completed until March 29, and then the time of entry quarantine after returning to China is counted, that is, this time.
This is exactly in conflict with the AFC Champions League East Asian group stage. According to the latest time of the AFC Champions League released 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 teams in the Chinese Super League play in the AFC Champions League with full force, coupled with the time for the participating teams to return to quarantine, the start of the Chinese Super League will be postponed to June, which is likely to be unacceptable to the Chinese Football Association.
After all, there is still the East Asian Cup in July, and counting the World Cup at the end of last year and FIFA International Match Day, the time left for the Chinese Football Association to arrange the Chinese Super League and the FA Cup is really not enough, not to mention the expansion of the Chinese Super League to 18 teams this season. Moreover, if the Chinese Super League continues to compress the schedule as in the previous two seasons and fails to play all rounds, the negative impact on all aspects will be immeasurable.
Therefore, without changing the epidemic prevention policy, the possibility of the Chinese Super League making way for the AFC Champions League is extremely small. This also means that the four Chinese Super League teams participating in this season's AFC Champions League are likely to play "separately". It is estimated that as last year, the lineup of the four teams in the Chinese Super League to play in the AFC Champions League will most likely be composed of substitutes and young players.
2022 AFC Champions League East Asia Group
Group F: Taishan, Shandong (China), Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan), Lion City Sailors (Singapore), Daegu (Korea)/Buriram United (Thailand)
Group G: Baton United (Thailand), Jeonnam Tenryu (Korea), United City (Philippines), Melbourne City (Australia)
Group H: Jeonbuk Hyundai (Korea), Yokohama Mariners (Japan), Jialai Huangying (Vietnam), Changchun Yatai (China) / Australia Third Overall Team / Kaya (Philippines)
Group I: Kawasaki Striker (Japan), Guangzhou (China), Johor Bahru (Malaysia), Ulsan Hyundai (Korea) / Thai Port (Thailand)
Group J: Shanghai Harbour (China), Chiang Rai United (Thailand), Jasch (Hong Kong, China), Victory Kobe (Japan) / Australia Second Overall Team / Shan Confederation (Myanmar)