Rongcheng's Great 2023: Fourth in the Chinese Super League, or there is a chance to "A B" in the AFC Champions League
Qin Yun/Captain Q
2023 is a great season for Chengdu Rongcheng. In the second season of the Chinese Super League, Rongcheng ended up in fourth place in the Chinese Super League, and may have the opportunity to participate in the second tier of the AFC Champions League after the restructuring next year.
This year's Chinese Super League opened on April 15, and in the 13 rounds of matches before entering July, the Rongcheng team won or drawn, and did not taste defeat. In the 11 rounds of the league in July and August, the Rongcheng team lost 7 games. All the defeats in the league this year have happened in these two months. Rongcheng finally failed to enter the top three this year, and the "foundation" was laid in this "cold summer".
Fortunately, after entering September, Chengdu Rongcheng stabilized its position and re-entered the rhythm of the league with no wins or draws, and finally won three games in a row in the closing stage. In the end, Chengdu Rongcheng ranked fourth in the Chinese Super League with 30 games, 15 wins, 8 draws, 7 losses and 53 points this season, surpassing last year's ranking and creating a new record.
Perhaps because he didn't want to play on two fronts, he basically gave up his attitude towards Chengdu Rongcheng of the FA Cup: in the third round, he was eliminated by Chongqing Tonglianglong, who was still in the second division at the time.
Giving up the FA Cup competition, Chengdu Rongcheng also has bitter words. As early as June 3, in the 11th round of the Chinese Super League, Chengdu Rongcheng played away from Shanghai Port, and Romulo, the core of the midfield, left the field with a serious injury in the 9th minute. After the game, Romulo was diagnosed with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and was reimbursed for the season. Romulo returned to Brazil for treatment, which had a great impact on the Rongcheng team, and the team's entire offensive system had to be restructured, and there was no room for adjustment.
By July, the whole team was exhausted and lost consecutive games. Therefore, in the third round of the FA Cup on June 23, Rongcheng's away loss to Tonglianglong was not a particularly big surprise. At that time, Rongcheng was about to enter a low state.
Although there are twists and turns, after all, it is the second season of the Chinese Super League, and Rongcheng, which has not completely faded the atmosphere of "stunned green", won the fourth, which is enough to make the envy of the old oilers of the Chinese Super League.
It's a pity that there are too many debts in July and August, and yesterday's final round of the Chinese Super League, Chengdu Rongcheng not only needs to win at home against Meizhou Hakka, but also has to see the results of Shanghai Shenhua and Zhejiang to know their final ranking. Zhejiang won 2:1 away against Shanghai Shenhua and snatched the third place that Rongcheng almost had in hand.
Because of the fourth place, whether Chengdu Rongcheng can participate in the AFC Champions League still needs to wait for the results of the FA Cup. If Shandong Taishan wins Shanghai Shenhua and wins the FA Cup, Rongcheng can qualify for the second level of the AFC Champions League by relying on the supplement; If Shanghai Shenhua finally wins the championship, Rongcheng will not be able to participate in the AFC Champions League next year.
The AFC will restructure the AFC Champions League next year, similar to the Chinese Football Association in the eighties and nineties of the last century, which divided the first division into two groups, AB, so the formation of a A and A B two leagues. The AFC Champions League is also divided into two levels next year, the first level is called the AFC Champions League Elite, the Chinese Super League has the champion and the FA Cup champion two teams directly enter the main match, and the Super League runner-up participates in the AFC Champions League Elite play-off and wins the main match after winning; The third place in the Chinese Super League will participate in the second level of the AFC Champions League (the name is still called the AFC Champions League, in fact, the AFC Champions League Elite is equivalent to the AFC Champions League Group A, and the AFC Champions League that will be the second-level event after the restructuring is the AFC Champions League Group B).
If Shandong Taishan wins the FA Cup this year, Chengdu Rongcheng will participate in this "AFC Champions League Group B" competition.