Almost the same race time as last year, almost the same points and rankings as last year. On the evening of April 27, the Chinese Super League will usher in the focus of the battle - Shanghai Derby. After the completion of the new season of coach change and squad upgrades, the two Shanghai teams are now more competitive, and are the only two teams that are still unbeaten, which also makes the dialogue between them the "strongest derby" of the Chinese Super League today.
After 7 rounds of the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Shenhua leads the standings with 6 wins and 1 draw, while Shanghai Port is in third place with 4 wins and 2 draws (the match between Shanghai and Meizhou was postponed due to weather conditions). Both teams have very bright performances on the offensive end, Shenhua is the best team in attack and defense, and Harbour is playing offensive football, dazzling set-piece tactics, falling behind Shandong Taishan 1-3 in the last round, still launching rounds of offensives, and finally completing the reversal 4-3.
Shenhua coach Slutsky attended the pre-match press conference. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Wang Weipeng
Both teams also have star players in the lineup. In terms of Harbour, local goalscorer Wu Lei scored 7 goals, ranking first in the scorer list, including 4 headers, and was elected the best player of the Chinese Super League 3 times; Shenhua, on the other hand, are two consistent scorers from Luiz and Teixeira, both of whom have scored five goals, while Luis has three other assists and has been involved in every game.
The high rankings of both teams and their history of contributing spectacular scenes have put the Shanghai derby in the spotlight, and tickets for this game are sold out early. But after the saber rattling of the past, the duel between the two teams is now calmer, and the Shanghai Football Association also issued a proposal for civilized viewing of the game.
At the pre-match press conference on April 26, the reaction of both teams was similarly calm. Shenhua coach Slutsky said that although Shenhua had beaten Harbour in the Super Cup before the start of the Chinese Super League, the latter's situation has changed a lot: "In the Super Cup, the opponent's No. 9 striker Gustavo and some other new players did not participate in that game, in short, this match against Harbour will be a new story." ”
Harbour boss Muscat attends the pre-match press conference. Photography by Labor Daily reporter Wang Weipeng
Shenhua head coach Muscat said that this kind of top-level confrontation will give the players motivation, "We have to focus on preparation and technical and tactical play, and when the game comes, we can be fully prepared mentally, emotionally, physically and technically." ”
Of course, a derby is a derby after all. Under the calm, in fact, there is also a turbulence. The Harbour Club released a pre-match poster with the theme of "It is the good scenery of Jiangnan". As we all know, the second half of this sentence is "the season of falling flowers is the season again", implying that the team wants to win Shenhua again. Muscat also expressed his intention to let the fans enjoy the game again, and the premise of enjoying the game is undoubtedly to win.
As for Shenhua, although they have a more ferocious momentum this season, when they adapted to the field before the game, the main right-back Manafa did not appear, and Slutsky directly arranged the old captain Wu Xi as the right back, which is likely to affect Shenhua's side attack and defense.
The header picture shows the pre-match poster of the Harbour team. Diagram of the Harbour Club