High-level change + coach ban! The AFC Champions League will play Yokohama again, can Taishan avenge last year's four consecutive defeats?

Reporter Chen Yong reports At 20 o'clock on October 22, in the third round of the AFC Champions League Elite League, Shandong Taishan will once again face the old rival Yokohama Mariner, which is the fifth meeting between the two teams in two years and the third meeting between the two teams this year. Previously, Shandong Taishan suffered four consecutive defeats in the face of Yokohama Mariners, this time, can Shandong Taishan succeed in revenge?

In the 2023/2024 AFC Champions League, Shandong Taishan and Yokohama Mariners are in one group, in the second round of the group stage, Taishan lost 0-1 at home, and in the sixth round of the group stage, Taishan lost 0-3 away to Yokohama Mariner. Although they lost home and away to Yokohama Mariners, the Taishan team eventually qualified from the group. After that, the Taishan team eliminated Kawasaki Frontale in the 1/8 finals to advance, but met the Yokohama Mariner in the 1/4 finals, and the two-legged game, the Taishan team was 1-2 at home and 0-1 away, and was killed by the opponent again.

All four encounters lost, in addition to the group stage away defeat, the other three Shandong Taishan were lost by one goal, the gap is not big, the game process is somewhat regrettable, Yokohama Mariners in last season's AFC Champions League final record is the runner-up.

In this season's league, both teams have encountered a lot of difficulties: Taishan team has experienced a certain decline in performance due to subjective and objective reasons, and is currently ranked 5th in the Chinese Super League, with a large points gap with the top three teams. Things are even worse for Yokohama Marino, who are in 12th place with one game in hand and will not be able to qualify for next season's AFC Champions League through the league as they enter the final stages of the league.

In the two rounds of the AFC Champions League in the 2024/2025 season, Shandong Taishan and Yokohama Mariners both have a 1-1 record: Taishan defeated Central Coast Mariners 3-1 at home and lost 1-2 to Vissel Kobe away; Yokohama Mariner lost 3-7 away to Gwangju FC and beat Ulsan 4-0 at home.

In terms of the performance of the two teams in the AFC Champions League this season, Shandong Taishan is basically stable, Yokohama Mariners appear to have great ups and downs, and the home victory over Ulsan, the first place in the Korean League, proved their strength, and the 3-7 defeat at the foot of Gwangju FC proved that their away combat effectiveness is not strong and the defensive focus is not enough.

Facing Yokohama Mariners again, the Taishan team will surely do their best to play this game well.

Recently, Shandong Taishan Football Club has undergone great changes, and the position of general manager of the club has been changed to Zhou Peijian from the Cultural Tourism Group.

On the team side, Taishan received a penalty from the AFC, with head coach Choi Kang-hee suspended for six games and fined $13,000 for his uncool behavior in the last AFC Champions League elite game, and his assistant Kim Hyun Min was suspended for 10 games and fined $10,000. This means that Choi Kang-hee will miss all the matches in the group stage of the AFC Champions League Elite League, which is very bad news for the Taishan team.

Recently, the morale of the Taishan team is very good: in terms of the national team, 6 Taishan team internationals were selected for the national team, and in the match between the national football team and Indonesia on October 15, Taishan 4 will start, helping the national football team defeat the Indonesian team 2-1 and usher in the first victory of the round of 18. Gao Zhunyi and Xie Wenneng's performances were quite outstanding and were recognized by the fans.

After returning to the league, Gao Zhunyi, Li Yuanyi and Xie Wenneng, who played more time in the national football team, did not start in the Taishan game against Jinmen Tigers, Xie Wenneng did not play directly, Li Yuanyi came off the bench in the 64th minute, and Gao Zhunyi came off the bench in the 74th minute, and they all got the opportunity to rest.

After rotating some of the players, the Taishan team still easily defeated the Tianjin Jinmen Tigers 4-1, and the Taishan team played more easily: Liu Binbin scored first, Kazaishvili scored to extend the lead, Cressan scored twice in the second half, and the Taishan team had 13 shots on target in the whole game, completely dominating the field.

Zeka came off the bench in the 46th minute, his third game since returning from injury, and his playing time gradually increased from 10 minutes to 28 minutes to half-time, and his physical condition has improved across the board, and he is expected to contribute more in the game against Yokohama Marino.

Although the Taishan team suffered from the club's change of leadership and Choi Kang-hee's suspension, the team's state and morale are relatively good, Zeka is back, the Taishan team's attack power has improved, and it is entirely possible to score points in the revenge battle.