Reporter Liu Xiangyu reports In the first round of the 2025 Chinese Super League, Beijing Guoan played away against promoted Ma Yunnan Yukun. Guoan used the first half to adapt to the new season, and the second half to settle the battle, and finally won 2-0 away from home and got off to a good start.

It was a completely unfamiliar match, with Yukun, who were unbeaten in the Chinese League last year, making their home debut in the Chinese Super League. Although Yukun continues to be led by Anderson, a large number of reinforcements have been made during the winter break, and a lot of adjustments have been made to the lineup. The strength of the Guoan squad on paper has been greatly improved compared with previous seasons, coupled with the arrival of Spanish coach Setien, the outside world has high expectations for Guoan. The club's clear slogan for the title before the start of the season shows how determined it is.

Guoan, who had previously conducted overseas training in Thailand, did not return to Beijing in order to better cope with the first game, but went directly to Yunnan away. Playing the first game well and getting the season off to a good start is more important than anything else.

"Yunnan Yukun played very well last year, had a good performance in the Chinese League, and they did a lot of reinforcements during the offseason, their strength has been enhanced, and they also have the home advantage of the plateau." It is not difficult to see from Setien's words before the game that he actually did his meticulous homework for the first game. The biggest highlight of the first game was Setien's change to Guoan, who is expected to return to technical football and offensive football this year.

But Setien also gave everyone a precaution: "It's a long preparation period, we've made a lot of changes, and we need to work on the details of training to make the players understand my tactical intentions. We played nine tutorial matches during the preparation period, but these games were played without spectators. Tomorrow will be the real test for us because it's a really stressful league. He said.

However, although it seems that Guoan is fully prepared for the first game, many unknown factors have turned the first game into an encounter.

The game was played on the evening of February 22, and Guoan's starting lineup was a bit of a surprise. Goalkeeper Han Jiaqi, the four members of the back line are He Yupeng, Ngadewu, Bai Yang and Wang Gang, the double back is Gonzalo and Dawan, and the three defenders are Nabijiang, Cao Yongjing and Lin Liangming, Fabio burst forward. On the bench sat Guoan's daily main force Li Lei, Zhang Yuning, Chi Zhongguo and new recruit Wu Shaocong, and Zhang Xizhe, who attended the press conference the day before, did not enter the starting list.

The naturalized players Serginho and Oscar, who have attracted much attention, were not included in the squad of both teams due to formalities. On the side of Yunnan Yukun, Hou Yongyong entered the starting lineup and fought against the old master.

'The manager has brought a new style of play and I hope we can show it in tomorrow's game and control the tempo of the game.' Zhang Xizhe's words before the game hit the nail on the head, after a winter training, Setien created a new tactical system for Guoan, and the official game was the real test, but from the actual combat point of view, the run-in was not good.

Throughout the first half, in the face of Yukun's high-pressure pressing, Guoan obviously felt a little uncomfortable. The pace of the game was not fast, and there were more mistakes, especially at the back. Guoan mainly played at his feet and started to attack from the center backs, but the two central defenders made too many passing mistakes, and the ball finally hit the front court, and there was a lack of contact points.

There was nothing new in this half, let alone the essence of Setien's Spanish football. In the 25th minute of the game, Guoan won the first corner of the game, and Fabio completed the only goal of the first half. In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Guoan gradually began to possess the ball, but there were not many threatening attacks. New signing Dawan was not eye-catching in the midfield position and also made a couple of mistakes. The whole team, like the newcomer Dawan, doesn't seem to have entered the league yet, and is even a little confused.

This half made Setien fully realize the reality, the team's tactical system is difficult to achieve overnight, and the gap between the teams in the Chinese Super League is not obvious, Guoan wants to play pleasing football, obviously it will take time.

Cao Yongjing was the most active man in the first half, but it was all personal brilliance, and Fabio was still the most threatening. Guoan's defensive offense was completely unplayed in the first half, and began to improve in the second half.

In the 52nd minute of the game, Guoan took advantage of the conversion opportunity, and the ball quickly moved to the Yukun half, the latter opened the gate in front of the goal, and Fabio opened his bow and arrow, and scored the first goal of the 2025 season for Guoan.

After taking the lead, Guoan, who had not played smoothly before, was much calmer. The ball runs from the back court to the front court, and it can play smoothly on several occasions. In the 78th minute, Guoan got a corner kick opportunity, and Cao Yongjing stabbed and scored in the chaos. The score came to 2-0 and this goal killed the game.

Zhang Yuning and Li Lei came off the bench in the second half of the game, and Setien only gave the two of them ten minutes to find the feeling of the new season. There was no change in the score, and Guoan finally won 2-0.

"It was a tough fight. We also experienced some difficulties at the beginning, Yunnan were very resolute in pressing our balls, and it was difficult to find a passing route at that time. Although we didn't pose a threat, we did have a difficult start. After that, we slowly found the rhythm of the game, but Yunnan did pose a lot of threats to us. In the first game, I was happy with the performance of our players. Although we still have a lot of details to work on, I have seen their hard work and I am happy with them. Judging from Setien's post-match speech, he still affirmed the performance of the players, of course, he should also know that the team still has a long way to go.

Bai Yang received a red card in the final minute of the game and was suspended for the next game, but the good news is that the central defender Spargic has arrived in Beijing and is about to join the team.