AFC Champions League: Chengdu Rongcheng vs Buriram! Compared to the Chinese Super League champion, is the AFC Champions League really that significant?

Our first discussion today is aboutthe AFC Champions League: Chengdu Rongcheng vs Buriram (Buriram United)!

Chengdu Rongcheng is a team I personally like, and I am looking forward to their performance in this season’s Chinese Super League.

I believe they are quite confident as well, and you can see,the newly appointed coach Aloisi has explicitly declared that the team aims to compete for the Chinese Super League championship this season.

Indeed,due to various factors, this season might be the closest Chengdu Rongcheng has come to winning the championship.

But precisely because of that, I am quite worried about their performance in the AFC Champions League.

Do you remember? The first major news in Chinese football this year was that nine CSL teams were deducted points.

Famous strong teams like Shenhua, Shanghai Port, Guoan, and Taishan all had points deducted, and not just a little.

As for Rongcheng? They remain clean, with no points deducted.

Note this: last season, Rongcheng was only 6 points behind the CSL champion!

Normally, a 6-point gap is quite significant and hard to overcome, especially since Rongcheng’s foundation and financial strength are indeed weaker than those of Shanghai and Beijing.

However, this season, after the point deductions, on one hand, Rongcheng has a big lead at the starting line; on the other hand, many traditional strong teams’ confidence and morale will likely be affected.

For example, in tonight’s English Championship match, a team called Leicester City has suffered three consecutive losses after the point deduction rumors surfaced, which has had some impact.

But optimism aside, we must respect the facts.

Objectively, Rongcheng’s squad depth is still not comparable to some established strong teams, and this season they lost key players like captain Zhou Dingyang and Goulfinkel, as the budget gap is clear.

One thing to note: even the highest-valued CSL teams like Shanghai Port or other strong teams cannot fully manage both the AFC Champions League and the league; this is not something to elaborate on here, but you can check their records yourself.

So for Rongcheng? It will probably be even more difficult.

Here is a key point—Why did Rongcheng choose Aloisi as their new head coach?

I think the main reason is they appreciate his ability to lead teams in league play, after all, Aloisi managed to bring a weaker team like Western United to win the A-League championship.

But in the football world, league and cup competitions often cannot be managed simultaneously.

Aloisi is very strong in league management, but how about cup competitions?

Well...

He has coached six AFC Champions League group stage matches, with 1 win, 1 draw, and 4 losses,finishing last in the group and being eliminated.The only team he defeated, Kashima, was the group leader at the time but prioritized the league title (eventually finishing tied on points with Kawasaki but second on goal difference).

Not to mention the AFC Champions League, even in the Australian domestic cup competitions he didn’t perform well,participating in six cup matches against professional teams, with a total record of 1 win and 5 losses—a poor showing.

And now, Aloisi has just arrived.

Previously, Xu Zhengyuan coached Chengdu for five years, single-handedly transforming the team from a China League One side into a Chinese Super League contender.

Xu Zhengyuan used a three-center-back formation.

Aloisi prefers a 4-4-2 formationwhich is quite different, and it likely won’t come together quickly.

In fact, we can see that Rongcheng has played five warm-up matches with a record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 3 losses, which doesn’t really look like a well-gelled team yet.

So, although the Thai League level is far below our Chinese Super League, the opponent is in mid-season form, better integrated, and in good competitive shape; considering various factors, is this match really easy to play?

So, will Buriram satisfy their fans? What do you all think? I hope they at least remain unbeaten away.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will continue to send my written views tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch football and understand it” — see you there!

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