Survive in the gap between the Super League? Next year's bonus will be increased, and the Super League team should not be rotten again!
Reporter Han Bing reported that on December 13, the AFC Champions League group stage was all over, and only Taishan advanced to the Chinese Super League. And no matter how the Saudi Arabian team in West Asia is supergiant, even in East Asia, it is still a strong pattern of Japan and South Korea, and now the Chinese Super League, which has shrunk significantly, has no advantage even in the face of strong teams in Southeast Asia, and can only survive in the cracks.
The results of the East Asian zone are basically in line with the strength of the league, Japan and South Korea have 3 teams to qualify, and Taishan of the Chinese Super League has become the only seedling.
South Korea is Ulsan Hyundai, Pohang Steelers and Jeonbuk Hyundai promoted, relatively speaking, although the Incheon United is the worst, but the performance is acceptable, with 12 points, double kill Yokohama Mariners, just because of the small points out, but the stronger Ulsan Hyundai (10 points) and Jeonbuk Hyundai (12 points), the group stage played averagely, are the last round of promotion, of which Hong Mingfu has to thank his old club Zhejiang team for help, if it were not for their draw Melbourne Victory, Ulsan Hyundai was eliminated. South Korea's best performer was Pohang Steelers, who still finished first in the group despite a lack of lineup and playing as an all-Korean team.
J-League teams have always focused on the league over the AFC Champions League, and this year coincides with the AFC Champions League group stage and the league championship and promotion sprint collision period, and the focus is more on the league. Even so, the Japanese team, which was not fully in the main game, showed that they were a step ahead. Kofu Wind Forest, ranked 8th in the J2 League, qualified first in the group, because of the grouping, but also because of the problem of strength; in order to compete for the league championship, the Mariners almost did not play the main force in the AFC Champions League group stage, but only sent 5 foreign aid in the final battle, and the result was a 3-0 defeat for Taishan; Urawa Red Diamonds also reserved the crucial period of qualifying for the AFC Champions League at the end of the season, and the result was that both ends failed; Kawasaki Frontale, who lost the hope of competing for the championship early, invested more in the AFC Champions League, and it is reasonable to qualify with an undefeated record.
The Chinese Super League team sent the first team to play in the AFC Champions League for the first time in two years, and the performance was in line with expectations due to the significant reduction in investment and the lack of foreign aid. In addition to Taishan, the results of the Three Towns and Zhejiang teams are very bad, the original harbor is stronger, and the foreign aid is better, but it is a pity that the play-offs are lost. It can be said that the overall actual performance of the Chinese Super League is comparable to that of the Thai Super League and the Australian Super League, and it is in the second group in East Asia, with a significant gap with Japan and South Korea.
Next year, after the AFC Champions League is restructured, the championship of the elite league will receive a prize of 12 million US dollars. The runner-up is $4 million, and the prize money for the win and draw in the group stage and the away subsidy will rise. For Chinese Super League clubs, the AFC Champions League is no longer a "loss-making" business for laborers, but a bonus battle worth fighting. With bonus incentives, Chinese Super League teams can choose better foreign aid to get more bonus returns, which will help the Super League get out of the trough as soon as possible. However, there will only be 12 teams in East Asia next year, and the opponents will be stronger, and it should be more difficult for the Chinese Super League teams to get points than this season.
The good news is that next year, the three teams representing the AFC Champions League elite league in the Super League, Haigang, Shenhua and Taishan (play-offs), are relatively stable in operation.
In West Asia, due to the Saudi league's heavy hoarding of top superstars, compared with other leagues, the strength has improved by at least one dimension, Riyadh Crescent, Jeddah United and Riyadh Victory are all top of the group, losing only 1 game in 18 group games, and the advantage is very obvious. Even Feiha, who did not have a heavyweight superstar to join, beat the Uzzi giants cotton farmers to qualify as the second in the group.
Riyadh Crescent even if there is no Neymar in the last 4 rounds of the group stage, the same invincible, the last 2 rounds, they even only have 3 foreign aid, in the end, with 5 wins and 1 draw, ranked first in the group; Ronaldo's Riyadh victory, first eliminated the UAE's number one giant, Dubai Young Nationals, in the play-offs, and then remained unbeaten in the group stage with 4 wins and 2 draws, and the 5 foreign aid configuration advantages are outstanding, especially on the offensive side.
Cotton farmers in Saad, Duhail, Persepolis and Tashkent, who were in the championship group in West Asia, failed to qualify, and although Ain qualified, there was no Saudi team in his group, and like Nassaf in Group B, the gold content was greatly reduced.
Next season, the AFC Champions League will be restructured, the top elite league, Saudi Arabia has 3 group stage places, and since there are only 12 teams in each of the two regions, Saudi teams will have a greater advantage. What's more, in the future, the Asian competition will also cancel the registration restriction of foreign aid, which is undoubtedly the last shackle for the Saudi team with strong capital. In terms of foreign aid introduction, only Qatar and the United Arab Emirates can compete with Saudi Arabia in the AFC Champions League.
This season, Qatar's summer investment reached a record 160 million euros, bringing in stars such as Verratti, Draxler, Diallo, Coutinho, Guedes, Plata, Giovanni and Soma, but most of them did not participate in the AFC Champions League.
Due to Saudi Arabia's hoarding of top stars, the team's strength has improved significantly, and they are likely to monopolize the AFC Champions League for a period of time in the future. Previously, the AFC Champions League was the east wind overpowering the west wind, and since 2006, West Asia has only won 3 of the 17 AFC Champions League titles, resulting in continuous "reform" of the AFC and creating opportunities for West Asia. In the elite league, in the top 8 and beyond, the competition system will be adopted and no longer divided, and the Saudi Arabian team with a clear advantage in strength and the advantage of the host will have a high probability of killing the Quartet.