The return of the AFC Champions League in the post-Jin Yuan Chinese Super League era, what are the prospects for Chinese Super League teams

▎ In the post-Jin Yuan Chinese Super League era, the Chinese Super League team once again started the AFC Champions League

The long-lost AFC Champions League

The 23/24 AFC Champions League will kick off the first round of the group stage on September 18, Beijing time, with Chinese clubs representing last season's Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Three Towns, last season's FA Cup champions Shandong Luneng and last season's third-placed Chinese Super League Zhejiang team. Shanghai Port, on the other hand, lost at home to Thai side Pathum United in the AFC Champions League play-offs, missing out on the AFC Champions League main match.

This season's AFC Champions League is the first time that Chinese Super League teams have sent their main players to participate after the epidemic, and in the past three seasons of the AFC Champions League, due to the special reasons of epidemic prevention and control, most of the Chinese Super League teams have sent youth teams to participate in the AFC Champions League, and the results are naturally a bit ugly.

The Golden Yuan Super League brings the glory of the Asian Champions League

Since Guangzhou Evergrande was promoted to the Chinese Super League as the champion of the Chinese League in 2011, the Chinese professional league has ushered in the era of the highest market value in history.

From 2011 to 2020, the Chinese Super League became the focus of the whole of Asia, including Paulinho, Oscar, Drogba, Anelka, Ravic, Mascenano, Carrasco and many other top stars have left their presence in the Chinese Super League.

With the blessing of funds, the Chinese Super League team has also won two Asian Champions League championships in history. In the Golden Yuan era, a total of 11 teams participated in the AFC Champions League 34 times, of which 20 were qualified from the group, which is also the best period for Chinese Super League teams in the AFC Champions League.

It is worth mentioning that former Guangzhou player Huang Bowen currently holds the tournament appearance record with 89 AFC Champions League appearances, while former Guoan player De Young leads the AFC Champions League all-time goalscorer list with 42 AFC Champions League goals.

This article takes you through the level of the AFC Champions League this season, and what are the popular teams in East and West Asia? What are the prospects for Chinese Super League teams in the post-Kim Yuan era in the AFC Champions League?

▎The overall level of the AFC Champions League in the new season

The overall value level of the AFC Champions League team, the West Asian team crushes East Asia

This season, the total value of 40 teams in the AFC Champions League is as high as 996 million euros, setting a new high in the history of the AFC Champions League, of which the three Saudi Arabia teams are worth more than 100 million euros each.

The overall value of the West Asia Division is as high as 770 million euros, accounting for 77.3% of the overall value of the AFC Champions League.

Focus stars to watch

A total of 19 players in the AFC Champions League this season are worth more than 10 million euros, of which only Brazilian striker Giovanni, who plays for Saad FC in Qatar League, is a non-Saudi league player.

A total of seven players are worth more than 30 million euros, and the most valuable player in the AFC Champions League this season is Brazilian star Neymar (60 million euros), who recently joined the Riyadh Crescent in Saudi Arabia.

In addition to Neymar, the appearance of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Fabinho, Mane, Kante and other former Champions League winners has also made the stars of the AFC Champions League shine.

Wuhan Three Towns captain Stanqiu became the most expensive player in the East Asian Division with a value of 5.5 million euros, while Stanqiu's teammate Malcom and Shandong Taishan foreign aid Cressan tied for second place with 3.5 million euros.

The East Asian Division is highly competitive, and Southeast Asian teams are not fish-belly

Eleven of the 20 teams in the East Asia Division are worth more than €10 million, but only reigning Chinese Super League champions Wuhan Three Towns are worth more than €20 million.

The overall value gap between East Asian teams is not obvious, only last season's Philippine league champion Kaya in the same group as Shandong Taishan is worth less than 4 million euros.

Southeast Asian teams, including Thai league champion Buriram United, Thai team Pathum United who eliminated Shanghai Port, and Malaysian league champion Johor Bahru are worth nearly 10 million euros overall, and the gap with China, Japan and South Korea is not big.

▎ The AFC Champions League new army Wuhan three towns encountered the death group

Two AFC Champions League titles plus the Vietnam League title

As the most expensive team in the East Asian Division, the debut of Chinese Super League champion Wuhan Three Towns in the AFC Champions League is undoubtedly the most watched match by domestic fans.

Wuhan Three Towns are in Group J with reigning AFC Champions League champions Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, third place in last season's Korean league and last season's Vietnamese league champion Hanoi, in Group J, which is undoubtedly the death group in East Asia.

In terms of AFC Champions League experience, both the Pohang Ironmen and the Urawa Red Diamonds are the most successful teams in AFC Champions League history, winning the AFC Champions League three times respectively, and Urawa Red Diamonds have won two titles in the last five seasons.

The strongest opponent, the Urawa Red Diamonds, is weak in defense this season

At press time, Urawa Red Diamonds are six points behind leaders Yokohama Mariners in the Japanese Professional League, only fourth in the league, and poor offensive performance is the main reason for the team's mediocre performance this season. With just 30 goals in the first 25 rounds of the league, Urawa Red Diamonds rank mid-table in attacking ability.

It is worth noting that the current top scorer in the team is former Cangzhou Lions foreign aid Jose Kanter, who scored 14 goals in the Chinese Super League last season, and the 37-year-old former Japanese international Shinzo Kozuki became the team's second scorer with four goals.

Compared to the current situation of the striker, the Urawa Red Diamonds have performed in the opposite defensive end, with the backline led by two foreign players and Japanese international Hiroki Sakai conceding only 19 goals in their first 25 league games this season, making it the best defensive team in the Professional League so far this season.

In addition, the average age of the entire team this season has reached 27.3 years old, and the average age of 26.5 years old Wuhan Three Towns is obviously more dominant in multi-front physical fitness.

Strive to double kill Hanoi and fight Pohang Iron Man

The Pohang Ironmen are currently 10 league points behind Ulsan Hyundai and are second in the league, with the Pohang Ironmen, who have lost just four games in the first 28 rounds of the league, the team with the fewest losses in the league this season.

The team's league performance this season has been slightly weaker offensively and defensively, with Brazilian foreign signing Zeka performing well in the league with seven goals and seven assists.

The Pohang Ironmen are the youngest team in the group with an average age of 25.3, and two 22-year-old local players, Lee Ho-jae and Gao Ying-hung, have scored eight goals in the league this season.

As a new AFC Champions League team, Wuhan Three Towns must take all six points from Hanoi, the weakest side in the group, to have any hope of qualifying from the group, and the two-legged match between Wuhan and the Pohang Ironmen is the most crucial match in the group, in addition to the Fight Pohang and Red Diamonds.

▎ AFC Champions League veteran Shandong Taishan encountered Japan's strongest team

Strong and weak, Taeshan will compete with Incheon United for second place in the group

Shandong Taisan is third behind Yokohama Mariners and Incheon United in this group. Yokohama Mariners are expected to complete two consecutive league titles this season, and as the reigning champions of last season's Nippon Professional League and this season's league leader, Yokohama Mariners are undoubtedly one of the best teams in Japan in the past two years.

South Korean side Incheon United in the same group is the new AFC Champions League this season, and the team has never won a major competition at home or abroad in the past, while Philippine League champion Kaya is undoubtedly the fish belly of this group.

The Yokohama Mariners have been consistent this season and the Brazilian Trident have been attacking proactively

The Yokohama Mariners have shown strong attacking prowess in the league this season, with the team having scored 49 goals in the first 25 rounds of the league, including 17 league goals for Brazilian striker Lopez.

The team's Brazilian offensive trident, which packed 29 goals and 17 assists, displayed terrifying offensive efficiency.

As the best defensive team in the Chinese Super League at present, the conflict between Shandong Taishan and Yokohama Mariners is full of highlights. Compared to Shandong Taishan's victory in the domestic league, the Japanese Professional League's championship situation is very glued, and the Yokohama Mariners currently lead the standings with only 1 point, and the gap with the fourth place is only 6 points. The Yokohama Mariners obviously have more energy involved in the domestic league than Shandong.

AFC Champions League newcomer Incheon United have been mediocre at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends this season

Incheon United qualified for the AFC Champions League play-offs last season in fourth place, beating Vietnamese side Hai Phong, worth only 2.95 million euros, 3-1 in extra time in the play-offs to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time in its history.

Incheon United are already as many as 20 points behind leaders Ulsan Hyundai in the first 28 rounds of the domestic league this season, and are sixth in the league. The team has been in the middle of the league at both ends of the league this season, with a goal difference of 0 in the first 28 rounds.

As two teams of similar value, Shandong Taishan will compete with Incheon United for a place in the group with better results.

▎ Can the Zhejiang team fight to qualify in the chaotic battle

The four teams were equal in strength, and the Zhejiang team fell into chaos

Compared to the other two Chinese Super League teams, Zhejiang's four teams in the group are not much different, Thai league champions Buriram United and Zhejiang have a slight advantage in value, while Melbourne City, who finished first in the Australian Super League in the regular season last season, and Kofu Fenglin, who won last season's domestic cup in Japan, are both worth more than 7 million euros.

Interestingly, Kofu Fenglin won the Cup last season as a downstream team in Japan's second division, and it is the only second-division team to participate in the AFC Champions League this season.

Thai hegemonic Buri Namu United is the strongest

Buriram United has won the treble of the domestic league, League Cup and Thailand Cup for two consecutive seasons, the team is currently the absolute hegemon in Thailand, and there are many Thai internationals in the team, and the two-legged match between Zhejiang and Buriram United will also bring reference significance to the national football team's World Cup qualifiers.

Compared with the Chinese Super League, which has entered the sprint stage, the Thai league has just begun, and Buriram United has a certain advantage in the physical strength of multi-front combat. The current focus of Buriram United is Azerbaijani striker Seydayev and Serbian midfielder Josić, who used to play in La Liga. Buriram United are currently unbeaten in the first three rounds of the league with 2 wins and 1 draw.

All opponents should not be underestimated

For Zhejiang team, which returned to the AFC Champions League after 12 years, there is no absolute advantage against the three opponents in the group stage, but there is no psychological disadvantage, and Zhejiang team is also the team with the least psychological baggage among the three AFC Champions League teams in the Chinese Super League.

With the mentality of fighting the opponent in every game, Zhejiang team has a chance to qualify in the chaos.

▎Conclusion

The performance of Chinese Super League teams in the post-Jin Yuan era in the AFC Champions League is also one of the few hopes to look forward to in domestic professional football in the trough, which team do you think has a chance to make it to the knockout round? Do East Asian teams have a chance to complete the counterattack in front of West Asian Golden Dollar football? Which team do you care about the most in the AFC Champions League? See you in our comment section.

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