Reporter Chen Yong reports On February 11th, the 14th day of the first month, the Taishan team will play in the 7th round of the AFC Champions League Elite League, home to Gwangju FC, this game, for the Taishan team that currently only accumulates 7 points and ranks tenth in East Asia, it can be called a backwater battle, once the loss is likely to miss the top eight in East Asia, the key to the problem is that the Taishan team is not yet fully prepared.

The Taishan team's 2024 season ended on December 4 last year, and on January 6 this year, they refocused and rushed to Shanghai on the 9th to officially start winter training, and on February 4, the Taishan team ended its winter training in Shanghai.

In this winter window, the most critical reinforcement of the Taishan team is the signing of defender Madraga and central defender Qajar, whose strength is close to the average level of the Brazilian League A and the Brazilian B, and the first-class foreign aid in Brazil in the past cannot be compared, but in the context of the current general reduction of expenses in the Chinese Super League, these two reinforcements cannot be considered bad. However, due to decision-making problems, it took a long time for the Taishan team to recruit this time, and the two foreign players did not meet with the team until the end of January, and the run-in was a problem. Of course, because one is a midfielder and the other is a central defender, the emphasis is on defense, and the requirements for run-in are relatively low.

Although it lasted nearly a month, the biggest problem of the Taishan team's winter training was the lack of games, and the team only played the first and only game of the winter training on February 4, the opponent was Qingdao Manatee, and the two sides drew 0-0. In that game, the Tarzan team played more young players in the first half, Madruga played in the first half, and the main players in the second half, including Zeka, Cressan, Kazaishvili and Qajar, in addition, a number of players did not participate because of minor injuries.

Manatee had more time to prepare for the game and played a more systematic warm-up game, so it was normal for the Taishan team, which played the warm-up game for the first time, to fail to win the game. In the case of that match, it was clear that the Taishan team had not fully adapted to the rhythm of the game, exposing a number of problems, which also cast a shadow on the AFC Champions League elite league match on February 11.

Although Madruga and Qajar have not been in the team for a long time, they still showed some ability in the game. Madruga is doing well on the defensive end, and as for the offensive end, it will take time; Khazar has good defensive ability, and normally speaking, his strength will definitely surpass that of Marcel before him.

The lack of winter training time and the lack of systematic warm-up matches are obviously not good news for Taishan to compete in the AFC Champions League Elite League, but as far as the 2025 season of the Chinese Super League is concerned, after two AFC Champions League elite league games, the Taishan team is expected to enter the game better than other non-participating teams, which should be good news for participating in the Chinese Super League.

For the Taishan team competing in the 2025 season of the Chinese Super League, another good news is naturally that five foreign aides have been gathered. In the 2024 season, the Tarzan team is not only the least foreign players who play the least, but also the bottom of the cliff, but in the 2025 season, this situation is expected to change.

A typical example is that at the beginning of the 2024 season, the Taishan team also had insufficient preparation time, the warm-up game was not systematic, and foreign aid Zeka was seriously injured. However, in the 1/8 finals of the AFC Champions League, the Taishan team eliminated Kawasaki Frontale 2-3 at home and 4-2 away to advance to the quarterfinals.

At present, Taishan is tenth with 7 points and a goal difference of -4, while Shenhua is ninth with 7 points and a goal difference of 0. In addition, Johor, Harbour and Buriram United, ranked sixth to eighth, all have 8 points and a goal difference of 3, -2 and -6 respectively, while Pohang, who is ranked fifth, have 9 points and a goal difference of 1. At present, the top four in East Asia have basically locked in the promotion places, and the other four promotion places are likely to be born from the teams ranked fifth to tenth, and the eleventh ranked Ulsan only has 3 points, and there is only a theoretical possibility of promotion.

Based on the current situation, Taishan team's home match against Gwangju FC cannot afford to lose, and at least one point is needed to continue the hope, and if they win, the natural hope of promotion will be greatly increased. Considering that the Taishan team is currently not fully prepared and the competitive state has not yet been stimulated, the most important thing for the Taishan team is to defend first.