Special correspondent Gan Hui reported that with the strong performance of five consecutive wins in the league, on the evening of April 13, Shenhua will welcome its old rival Beijing Guoan at the Shanghai Stadium at home. Considering the historical relationship between the two teams and the overall strength of Guoan, this game is considered to be the biggest test for Shenhua since the start of the 2024 league season.
At 10 a.m. on April 7, tickets for the "Beijing-Shanghai War" went on sale. As a result, in less than half an hour, all the tickets released that day were snatched up, and the ball market was very hot. There is no doubt that the game on the evening of the 13th will set a record for attendance at the Shanghai Stadium this season. On the 14th, the harbor hosted Taishan, and it was still hard to find a ticket, and this weekend in Shanghai was a football weekend.
Although he is a newcomer and has only been in Shenhua for more than three months, head coach Slutsky knows very well the significance of the "Beijing-Shanghai War". At the pre-match press conference, his first words were: "I understand the importance of tomorrow's match against Beijing. Because it's a very important game for the two cities of Shanghai and Beijing." Coincidentally, this week Shanghai and Beijing have launched an all-out battle in football, basketball, and volleyball. On April 11, the Shanghai men's basketball team defeated the Beijing men's basketball team 110-96 and won the playoffs. The Shanghai men's volleyball team defeated the BAIC men's volleyball team 3-0, leading 2-0 in the total score, just one step away from the 17th championship of the league. Therefore, Shanghai fans are looking forward to Shenhua's victory over Guoan and thus win a comprehensive victory in the third-line matchup between Beijing and Shanghai.
This week, the Chinese Super League has scheduled a week of double matches, with only four days apart. After the 4-1 win over Wuhan Three Towns, Slutsky said, "You can see that the schedule is very tight, and the only thing I can think about now is how to make the players recover better in tomorrow's training." In Slutsky's view, the team's physical recovery with such an intensive schedule could determine the final outcome of the match: "The time between the last game and tomorrow's game is relatively close, and we spent a lot of time on the athletes to recover, so there is very little time for training. Of course, our opponents should be in the same situation. So, tomorrow's game should be whoever recovers well and has better fitness in the next few days, has a better chance of winning the game. Either way, we're going to do our best to be the best in tomorrow's game and bring out the best in us. ”
On April 12, Slutsky still chose to give up on adapting to the venue and stayed at the base for the last practice before the game. This arrangement allows the players to have more time to rest and adjust. "I didn't want to bring Xiao Xie (Xie Pengfei) over today, I would rather him have a good rest in the hotel. Xie Pengfei, who has performed very well in the past two games, attended the pre-match press conference of this "Beijing-Shanghai War" with Slutsky.
Shenhua's pre-match press conference was originally scheduled for 17:15 on the 12th, but due to traffic jams on the road, the press conference was forced to be postponed for more than an hour. Even so, Slutsky's mood was not affected in any way, and according to his inherent rhythm, he slowly and methodically expounded his views on the "Beijing-Shanghai War".
In Slutsky's view, before such a game, everyone needs to be calm, "There is no need for additional mobilization to play Beijing Guoan, because in the face of such an opponent, the players can completely do their own emotional stimulation, and I also believe that the players have completely done a good job of self-motivation emotionally." On the contrary, from my personal point of view, we should be more calm to face tomorrow's game, not too much emotional, or we need to focus more on technical and tactical aspects, which is the most important thing. ”
Perhaps it was the last round of the home surprise loss to Shenzhen Xinpeng City, Beijing Guoan head coach Suarez faced the problem of "not winning the last two games, how to adjust morale in a short period of time", the mentality has more or less made a little waves, and after more or less "defending" the performance of the last two games, he still mentioned the upcoming Shenhua: "The game with Shenhua, we will still play according to our own model, and I also want to know what questions everyone will ask when we win." Maybe we only had one shot on goal and the opponent had 10, but what if we won? We were frustrated, our fans were great, they fought with us until the last minute. Then there are my teammates, who run a lot. It's a responsibility for me, we need to look forward, I have confidence in myself and the team and we're going to have good results. Judging from this expression, Suarez is currently under a lot of pressure.
Like Shenhua's previous opponents, Guoan also has injuries, with foreign players Fabio and Wang Gang both missing the game against Shenhua due to injury. Comparatively, Shenhua doesn't have too many injury troubles. In the last round against Wuhan Three Towns, Malele has started the game, but his shoulders already need the protection of protective gear, and his condition needs to be gradually improved. "In our team, every player is very important, whether it is a Chinese player or a foreign player, whether it is a young player or a little older, every performance on the field is extremely important for our whole team. Slutsky also expressed his expectations for Xie Pengfei, "In these two games, Xie Pengfei's performance is indeed very eye-catching, I hope his performance is not just one or two games, his excellent performance can be maintained, so that he is a real Xie Pengfei." ”
This weekend's Shanghai is full of good shows. In addition to the "Beijing-Shanghai War" between Shenhua and Guoan, on the 14th, the harbor will also sit at home to meet the challenge of Taishan. If Shenhua and Harbour can win the game, they will further establish their advantage in the league standings. Last season, Shenhua won the FA Cup and Harbour won the league title. This season, Shanghai's two teams are the only two unbeaten in the Chinese Super League in the first five rounds, and the strong performance of the two Shanghai teams at the same time has made Shanghai the current football center of the Chinese Super League.