With the 2022 season just around the corner, Asia's top tournaments are also entering the group stage. Guangzhou, with two titles, is grouped in Group I, with The Winner between Japanese League Champion Kawasaki Striker and Malaysian Champion Johor DT, as well as Ulsan Hyundai and Thailand's Thai Harbor. It is worth mentioning that these opponents are all "old acquaintances" of guangzhou team, but this reunion will allow the team that is caught in the decision to complete the counterattack. Of course, former Guangzhou foreign aid Jin Yingquan may also defect to the old owner in this AFC Champions League.
Guangzhou suffered a Japanese and Malay league title, and Kim Young-kwon may defect to the old owner
The 2022 AFC Champions League group stage group is officially released: the Chinese Super League "BIG4" faces the challenge of Asian teams. Grouped in Kuala Lumpur, Shandong Taishan and Urawa Red Diamonds, Lion City Mariners, Daegu FC/Buriram United are in Group F; Shanghai Harbour and Chiangrai United, Jiezhi, Kobe Victory Ship/Australia's second overall team/Shan Confederates are in Group J. Changchun Yatai needs to advance from the play-offs to be able to play Against Jeonbuk Hyundai, Yokohama Mariners and Jialai Huangying. The Guangzhou team, this time, was in the same group as several old acquaintances, including: Kawasaki Striker, Johor DT, Ulsan Hyundai / Thailand Port.
The new J1 league champion, Kawasaki Forward, was very strong last season, winning the championship by more than ten points ahead of the second-place team. This team had played against Guangzhou in the 2017 AFC Champions League in the 2017 season, and the two meetings in the group stage were "peace is precious". Johor DT was in the same group as Guangzhou in the 2020 season, but there was a "temporary escape". Thailand's Thai port gave Guangzhou two consecutive defeats last season, and the strength of the team is actually not satisfactory. The Guangzhou team has not met Ulsan Hyundai, a K-League team in the AFC Champions League, but the defender kim Young-kwon in the team is everyone's "old acquaintance".
AFC Champions League is desperate! What lineup will the new Guangzhou team use to complete the counterattack?
It is reported that the 2022 season of the AFC Champions League has been expanded, and a total of 40 participating teams in the East and West Districts will be divided into 10 groups, in addition to the first place can be qualified, the second place with the best results in the 3 groups can be promoted. That is to say, the Guangzhou team can only ensure promotion if it wins the first place in Group I, and it is not safe to take the second place. Coupled with the previous two seasons, Guangzhou team could not even qualify for the group stage, which plunged the originally depressed Guangzhou team into a deeper desperate situation.
In fact, the current situation of the Guangzhou team has changed compared to before. After the players played the 2021 season, the team also paid some salaries, and it can be seen that the situation of investors has improved. Coupled with the fact that new investors have already branded football management talents, the team's stock has changed into a reality. Of course, whether guangzhou can keep most of the main players can make it possible for this team to achieve good results in the 2022 AFC Champions League.
As the saying goes: "Mountains and rivers meet each other." Guangzhou is the top team in Asia, and even when the team is in a downturn, it will be considered the number one favorite to advance. With the progress of the stock reform, guangzhou team is back on track, and when facing teams such as Kawasaki Striker and Johor DT, the club will "make a makeover". We also believe that this team will inherit the "eight champions" of the Chinese Super League and the double champions of the AFC Champions League and complete the counterattack in the new season of the AFC Champions League.