U21 League: Rongcheng and Three Towns successfully rushed to the second division

Reporter Chen Yong reports On December 8, the final stage of the 2024 U21 League season took place on the second matchday of the 21st round.

In this round of the game, if Wuhan Three Towns defeats Shanghai Shenhua, Wuhan Three Towns will directly join hands with Chengdu Rongcheng to obtain the second place in advance; If Wuhan Three Towns and Shanghai Shenhua draw, Chengdu Rongcheng needs to score points to advance to the second division, while Wuhan Three Towns has a 3-point advantage, and the last round of points can be promoted to the second division; If Wuhan Three Towns loses to Shanghai Shenhua, Chengdu Rongcheng needs to win to advance to advance, and Shanghai Shenhua will get the initiative to rush to the second round, and defeat Chengdu Rongcheng in the final round to advance to the second division.

In the end, Shanghai Shenhua U21 team lost 0-1 to Wuhan Three Towns U21 team, and Zhejiang U21 team drew 1-1 with Chengdu Rongcheng U21 team. At the end of this round, Wuhan Three Towns scored 52 points, Chengdu Rongcheng scored 51 points, and both teams successfully rushed to the second round in advance, and both teams won the qualification to participate in the 2025 season of the second league in the name of team B. On December 11, Chengdu Rongcheng and Wuhan Three Towns will compete for the title of the U21 league in the final round of the U21 league.

Before the finals, Chengdu Rongcheng had 44 points after 18 rounds, Wuhan Three Towns had 43 points, and Shanghai Shenhua had 42 points. In the first round of the final stage (that is, the 19th round), Shanghai Shenhua drew 0-0 with Nantong Zhiyun, Chengdu Rongcheng and Wuhan Three Towns both won, and Shanghai Shenhua began to fall behind. In the 20th round, all three teams won at the same time. Before this round of competition, Chengdu Rongcheng scored 50 points, Wuhan Three Towns scored 49 points, and Shanghai Shenhua scored 46 points.

In this game, Shanghai Shenhua's main winger Wang Yifan was suspended with a red card, which was a big loss for Shenhua, but the team still had Liu Chengyu (11 goals, final stage data, the same below) in charge, and new (8 goals) and Yang Haoyu (5 goals) and other players with good attacking power. Wuhan Three Towns have Liu Yiheng (14 goals, current top scorer in the league) in charge, and players such as Xia Xiaoxi (10 goals) and Xiong Jizheng (8 goals) are also good.

In this game, both teams had chances to score in the first half, but neither could take it. In the 78th minute of the game, Wuhan Three Towns won a corner kick, and Yu Tianxiang's corner kick went directly into the net, which broke the deadlock on the field. Then Shanghai Shenhua fought back frantically and also had a chance to equalize, but in the end failed to rewrite the score. At the end of the game, Wuhan Three Towns defeated Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 and qualified for the 2025 season in the second round.

In the other game, Chengdu Rongcheng and Zhejiang, who have Hu Hetao and Mu Ta Lifu, played quite anxiously, and the two sides drew 0-0 in the first half. In the 66th minute of the game, Zhejiang team striker Zhou Wentao shot from the front of the penalty area, although the strength was not large, but the angle was extremely awkward, and the ball drilled into the net, and the Zhejiang team took the lead. Two minutes later, Chengdu Rongcheng equalized in a scuffle in the penalty area by captain Li Xiaoyi, and the score was 1-1 until the end of the game. But because Shanghai Shenhua has already lost to Wuhan Three Towns, regardless of the outcome of this game, Chengdu Rongcheng will qualify for the 2025 season in advance.

The suspense of the final round of the U21 league is the championship battle, and Wuhan Three Towns is currently one point ahead of the championship initiative.

In this year's U21 League, Shanghai Shenhua U21 team once again missed out on the qualification for the second division. Since last season, they have been favourites to finish the second division. This season, Shanghai Shenhua changed the coach halfway, after the change of coach, the team needs to adapt and run in, and the 19th round drew with the penultimate Nantong Zhiyun, which became a turning point in their journey to the second division this season.

There are 12 teams participating in the final stage of the U21 League this season, the same number as last season. In the 2023 season, the U21 league will be divided into 4 stages, each with 5 to 6 rounds of matches at short intervals. This season, the U21 league has been changed to five stages, each with four to five rounds. At the same time, the interval between rounds has been extended to ensure the quality of the game.

In the 2025 season, the number of participating teams will be expanded to 24, and the number of Super League B teams will reach 4, namely Shandong Taishan B Team, Shanghai Port B Team, Wuhan Three Towns B Team and Chengdu Rongcheng B Team. In the 2024 season, Shandong Taishan B and Shanghai Port B performed well, both reaching the first group, and finally ranked sixth and ninth in the league (a total of 20 teams). In the 2025 season, the performance of the two B team newcomers is worth looking forward to.