During the break, Shenhua faces two major challenges.

Special contribution / Gan Hui After three rounds of fierce battles, the new season of the Chinese Super League will have a half-month intermission. For Shenhua, which currently has nearly half of its main lineup sidelined due to injuries, this is undoubtedly a valuable chance for recuperation.

After the "Beijing-Shanghai clash" on the 21st, Shenhua returned to Shanghai overnight from Beijing. After a brief holiday, the team will reassemble on March 25 to prepare for the upcoming league fixtures. During this break, Shenhua will also arrange a friendly match to help players maintain their form.

Last weekend's "Beijing-Shanghai clash" was a key match in the third round of the Chinese Super League, but Shenhua had to rely on a depleted lineup — five key players including foreign players Guy and Teixeira, as well as Wu Xi, Li Ke, and Jiang Shenlong were absent.

For this trip to Beijing, Guy did not travel with the team. Captain Wu Xi, who went to Beijing with the squad, stayed at the base for treatment and rehabilitation during the final pre-match training session and was also not included in the match list. Although Teixeira and Li Ke appeared on the substitute list, they never entered the game.

The absence of these players had a clear impact on Shenhua, especially in attack. When both Teixeira and Wu Xi were missing, Shenhua's offensive play struggled to flow smoothly, and the match largely descended into a physical battle. Shenhua could mostly only threaten the opponent through long passes and contesting second balls. With Teixeira unavailable, Slutsky positioned Latang in the number 10 role, but this is not a position the latter excels in. Away from the goal, Latang was completely unable to utilize his strengths in poaching and shooting. The injuries to Guy and Jiang Shenlong, besides affecting Shenhua's attack and defense, directly lowered the team's "height" by a notch, resulting in significant losses in aerial duels both offensively and defensively.

Although Shenhua has faced considerable injury issues over the past two years, with serious injuries to some key players last season causing difficulties during the crucial championship phase, this season is the first time they have encountered continuous injuries right from the start, with main players getting injured and leaving matches in every game. It can be said that injuries have arrived earlier than in any previous season.

This season, Shenhua also started with a -10 point deficit and faced the challenge of consecutive away matches against strong teams like Zhejiang and Beijing Guoan early on. Fortunately, the team withstanded this pressure. In the away matches against Zhejiang and Beijing Guoan, although they did not secure three points, achieving two draws with nearly half of the main squad absent is a reasonably acceptable result. After three rounds, Shenhua's points on the league table have changed from -10 to -5.

During the upcoming half-month break, helping injured players recover quickly becomes the team's top priority. Teixeira suffered a slight muscle strain in the first half of the match against Zhejiang. The game was intense and fiercely contested at that time, and he persisted to play the full match. Guy, who sustained an injury during training before the Zhejiang match, has recovered quite well through active treatment and rehabilitation. However, the coaching staff decided not to take him to Beijing for safety reasons, allowing him to continue resting and adjusting. As for Li Ke, he was injured in the first league match on March 7. By the time of the away match against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger after the break, he will have rested for nearly a month. If no unexpected issues arise, Shenhua's injury situation could improve somewhat after the break.

However, in the second half of this round's away match against Guoan, Mineiro, who had just recovered from injury, suffered another thigh muscle strain. His previous strain required over a month of rehabilitation. Another injured player, Jiang Shenlong, still has an uncertain return date. Therefore, after the break, Shenhua will still not be able to field a full main squad and will hardly have all five foreign players available together.

When regrouping at the Jiushi Kangqiao Sports Base on March 25, Shenhua will also face the situation of seven players being called up.

In the latest national team training camp list, Shenhua's Zhu Chenjie, Gao Tianyi, Liu Chengyu, and Ma Zhen have been selected. Compared to the previous camp list, Shenhua's selected players have changed: Xu Haoyang, who had fewer appearances in the first two league rounds, was not selected, while Gao Tianyi and Liu Chengyu, who performed well in the league, have returned to the national team.

Slutsky commented on the four national team players: "I believe Ma Zhen left a good impression on the coaching staff during previous national team camps, so his selection is understandable. The other three players are regular starters in our team, and their performances have been excellent. Additionally, I think several other domestic players who start for our team also possess the capability to be selected for the national team."

Besides these four players, Yang Haoyu has been selected for the U23 national team, and Wu Qipeng, who has started as the defensive midfielder in the last two matches replacing injured Li Ke, has been called up by the U19 national team.

In the March squad of the Hong Kong, China team, Chen Jinyi, who scored a beautiful free-kick in the "Beijing-Shanghai clash," is included. During this international match window, the Hong Kong, China team will play a friendly against Nepal and then face India in the Asian Cup qualifiers.

With as many as seven players called up, combined with the current injury situation within the team, the preparation training during the break faces severe personnel shortages, even unable to gather enough players for group drills.

According to arrangements, these seven players will basically only return for training around April 2, while Shenhua must depart for Tianjin on April 3 to prepare for the away match against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger on April 5. Therefore, including pitch adaptation training, the whole team will have only about three combined training sessions.