Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Unstoppable Pace of Champions

Guangzhou Evergrande had a very fantastic start to the season, except for winning the first five rounds of the AFC Champions League group stage and accumulating 15 points to qualify early. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info is also at the top of the list with 15 points in the fifth round of the Chinese Super League.

Behind them is an unexpected team - Qingdao Zhongneng, Qingdao Zhongneng in the first five rounds of four wins and one draw 13 points ranked second, third place Shandong Luneng four wins and one loss 12 points ranked third. The two teams from Shandong became the only teams to bite behind Guangzhou Evergrande after five rounds.

Although Qingdao Zhongneng is now in second place, it is Shandong Luneng, the former hegemon of the Chinese Super League, who is considered to be the most likely to threaten Guangzhou Evergrande's supremacy this season.

In fact, they also won all of their first four league games and went alongside Guangzhou Evergrande, but they lost away to Shanghai Shenhua in the fifth round, leaving them three points behind Guangzhou Evergrande. However, the competition for the league is a long process, and no one can guarantee that Guangzhou Evergrande's form will continue to be so good.

Shandong Luneng coach Antich said in an interview with the media: "Now the league has just begun, everything is unpredictable, what we have to do is to bite Guangzhou Evergrande tightly, don't let them throw us too many points, and then wait for Guangzhou Evergrande to make mistakes." Of course we have it, I came here to fight for the championship for Shandong Luneng, we have a strong enough lineup! ”

Three days after beating Urawa Red Diamonds away in the AFC Champions League, Guangzhou Evergrande will face the first Guangzhou derby of the season. This is considered to be where Guangzhou Evergrande is likely to lose points.

But at Yuexiushan Stadium, Guangzhou R&F did not pose much threat to Guangzhou Evergrande, with Li Qingshan and Elkeson scoring one goal each in the second half, Guangzhou Evergrande took away three points in Yuexiushan.

Four days later, Guangzhou Evergrande will face Jeonbuk Hyundai at Tianhe Stadium, due to the intensive schedule in recent times, and has been out of the group ahead of schedule, Lippi made a large rotation in this game, Jin Yingquan, Conca, Muric, Li Qingshan, Zheng Zhi, Feng Xiaoting, Zhang Linpeng These main players have been rotated, and Barrios, who has been sitting on the bench for several games, has been given the opportunity to start.

However, Barrios, who had been absent for a long time, did not perform well on the field, and Guangzhou Evergrande played a dull battle with Jeonbuk Hyundai at home, and neither side scored. It was Guangzhou Evergrande's first draw of the season, while their winning streak stood at twelve. After this game, the six games of the AFC Champions League group stage ended, and Guangzhou Evergrande won five wins and one draw to accumulate 16 points and qualified first in the group.

Back in the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande's Super League winning streak continues. On May 5th, the seventh round of the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande hosted Tianjin TEDA, Guangzhou Evergrande's main force was launched, after a rotation break, Guangzhou Evergrande was like a rainbow at home, and the Jinmen Tiger came to the hot and humid Guangzhou, which was completely suppressed by Guangzhou Evergrande's strong offensive, swallowing three eggs in the first and second halves, losing 3-0, Conca, Elkeson, Li Qingshan scored.

On May 10, in the eighth round of the Chinese Super League, Guangzhou Evergrande easily defeated the veteran Shanghai Shenhua of the Chinese Super League 3-0 at Shanghai Hongkou Stadium.

In the AFC Champions League 1/8 knockout round, Guangzhou Evergrande drew the opponent of the Central Coast Mariners of the Australian Super League. The strength of the Central Coast Mariners is not very strong, and after the opponent of Guangzhou Evergrande was drawn, the domestic media was generally optimistic, believing that Guangzhou Evergrande basically booked a place in the top eight.

The same is true in the game, in the first leg, the Central Coast Mariners basically surrendered, Guangzhou Evergrande won 3-1 away against the Central Coast Mariners, this game Li Qingshan scored again, he scored twice again. Australian players are generally physically strong and good at physical confrontations. Their kick is right in Li Qingshan's arms, and the physical advantage that the Australians are proud of cannot be taken advantage of in front of Li Qingshan, but their style of play makes Li Qingshan feel very familiar - Li Qingshan is very familiar with this style of football when he played in England.

Guangzhou Evergrande, who returned to the Chinese Super League, was unaffected by the AFC Champions League game, beating Liaoning Hongyuan 4-1 at home, Li Qingshan scored twice in this game, Elkeson and Zhang Linpeng scored a goal each.

Now Li Qingshan's goal is not news, if he doesn't score one day, it will be big news!

In the second leg of the AFC Champions League 1/8 knockout round, at Tianhe Stadium, Guangzhou Evergrande did not give the Central Coast Mariners any chance, and defeated the opponent 3-0 with the goals of Li Qingshan, Conca and Muric, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League with a total score of 7-1!

In the Chinese Super League, the only team that bit Guangzhou Evergrande and did not fall behind was Shandong Luneng.

Shandong Luneng will go to Tianhe Stadium to challenge Guangzhou Evergrande in the 11th round, and the direct face-to-face between the two teams will be the best opportunity for Shandong Luneng to close the distance between the two sides.

Shandong Luneng are now only three points behind Guangzhou Evergrande, and if they can win away from home, they will be level on points with Guangzhou Evergrande and hand Guangzhou Evergrande their first defeat of the season.

Now the Shandong media has begun to hype this game, and they have listed several reasons why Shandong Luneng defeated Guangzhou Evergrande to build momentum for Shandong Luneng's away game against Guangzhou.

In addition to Shandong media, other domestic media pinned their hopes on Shandong Luneng to defeat Guangzhou Evergrande, Guangzhou Evergrande was strong all the way so that other teams could not see hope at all, the league has only been carried out for nine rounds, and now only Shandong Luneng can bite Guangzhou Evergrande tightly.

On May 26, in the tenth round of the league, Guangzhou Evergrande defeated Hangzhou Greentown 1-0 away, and it was Li Qingshan who scored the goal. On May 29, in the eleventh round of the league, Guangzhou Evergrande defeated Guizhou Renhe 4-0 at home, this time Li Qingshan, Zheng Zhi, Huang Bowen, and Elkeson each scored a goal!

In these two rounds, Shandong Luneng did not fall behind, and still ranked behind Guangzhou Evergrande by three points.

On June 1, Shandong Luneng challenged Guangzhou Evergrande away. Shandong Luneng certainly won't easily admit defeat in this direct conversation, you know, if they lose this game, they will be six points behind Guangzhou Evergrande!! It's not easy to catch up with such a gap.

Shandong Luneng's player lineup is not lost to Guangzhou Evergrande on paper, they also have a large number of local players with international strength, and the strength of foreign aid is also quite good, Australian international central defender McGovern, Brazilian international Love, are the top foreign players in the Chinese Super League. This season, under Antich's tutelage, this group of players has also played a considerable combat effectiveness.

In this game, Shandong Luneng did create a lot of trouble for Guangzhou Evergrande. Until the eighty-ninth minute of the game, the score was still 0-0. Just when everyone thought that Guangzhou Evergrande's winning streak in the Chinese Super League this season would end here, it was Li Qingshan who stood up again, and he received Zhang Linpeng's cross to beat Australian central defender McGovern to head the ball into the goal!

In the end, Guangzhou Evergrande won 1-0 at home, and after this game, Guangzhou Evergrande won 11 consecutive Super League wins! Thirty-three points ahead of Shandong Luneng behind him can reach a six-point difference!!

Who can stop Guangzhou Evergrande from defending their title?

This is after this game, and many media outlets have raised such question marks.

Since the beginning of this season, Guangzhou Evergrande's strength has made all teams feel desperate, and according to this trend, Guangzhou Evergrande has basically no suspense in the Chinese Super League this season!

If Guangzhou Evergrande defends the Chinese Super League title this season and achieves three consecutive Super League titles, then they will create a period of their own dynasty.

This may not be happy for other teams in the Chinese Super League.

However, even Shandong Luneng, which is strong this season, has not been able to hold back the pace of Guangzhou Evergrande's victory, and which team can?

Perhaps Guangzhou Evergrande's pace of defending the Chinese Super League title is already unstoppable.

The biggest suspense now is, how far can Guangzhou Evergrande go in the AFC Champions League?