CSL Relegation Battle: Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers Face Do-or-Die Moments

Reporter Lu Mi reports. On June 26, the second half of the CSL season kicked off, with the relegation group experiencing a slight split. Wuhan Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers both lost, remaining deep in trouble, while Qingdao Hainiu staged a comeback, grabbing three points to stabilize their position. The upcoming four rounds represent the best opportunity for Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers to escape, but their rivals are also determined not to lose points. The CSL is about to witness a brutal relegation scramble.

Round 16, as the first round of the second half of the league, revealed an initial differentiation in the relegation landscape. The two teams in the relegation zone, Wuhan Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers, both lost away matches, continuing their poor form and facing increased relegation pressure. Meanwhile, Qingdao Hainiu, on the edge of the relegation zone, secured a crucial victory, breaking their losing streak and gaining some breathing room. The vastly different results of the three teams' adjustments during the break and their on-field performances have made the already intense relegation battle even more heated right from the start of the second half.

Wuhan Three Towns entered the break with a poor record of eight consecutive winless matches in the first half. The team launched targeted reinforcements, bringing in several capable domestic players to strengthen their defense, hoping to turn things around during the offseason. In this round, they faced Beijing Guoan away. All new signings were included in the squad, with three foreign starters, signaling a clear intent to grab points. Throughout the match, Three Towns' defensive improvements during the break showed initial results, with steadier backline performance.

The deadlock was broken in the second half when Guoan scored a header from a corner kick to take the lead. Trailing, Three Towns quickly made substitutions, bringing on attacking players to increase pressure up front, but they failed to convert chances, exposing their poor finishing. They ultimately lost 0-1 away. The coaching change before the break and squad reinforcements during the break failed to translate into points, extending their winless run to nine matches. Currently, Wuhan Three Towns have only 8 points, still in second-to-last place. With continued failure to win, their margin for error is shrinking.

The bottom-ranked Tianjin Tigers face an even more dire relegation situation. The points deduction at the start of the season has been like a shackle, keeping the team struggling at the bottom of the table. After this round's defeat, their survival prospects are almost hopeless. During the break, Tianjin Tigers made no new signings, only bringing Salvador back into the lineup while dropping midfielder Grau. They focused on tactical refinement with existing players, hoping to snatch points in the second half to stay alive.

In this round, Tianjin Tigers faced second-placed Chongqing Tonglianglong away. They deployed a five-foreigner lineup and pressed aggressively from the start, trying to disrupt the opponent's rhythm. However, the Tigers lacked the ability to convert chances, with a very low attacking conversion rate. In the second half, the opponent scored on a counterattack and then gradually substituted off key players. The Tigers launched a desperate comeback and even scored a potential equalizer in stoppage time, but it was disallowed due to an offside interference call, extinguishing their hopes. Head coach Yu Genwei received a red card for protesting the decision.

Looking at the entire match, the break adjustments only slightly improved the midfield toughness, but the core weaknesses—lack of offensive firepower and insufficient squad depth—remained unaddressed. Currently, Tianjin Tigers have only 5 points, and the gap to third-from-bottom Hainiu has widened to 8 points. The relegation pressure is immense.

In stark contrast to the two losing teams, Qingdao Hainiu faced multiple difficulties during the break, including injuries and suspensions among key players. The coaching staff could only work with the existing squad, focusing on adjusting players' form and addressing specific weaknesses in attack and defense. In this round, they faced a strong opponent, Yunnan Yukun, with a depleted lineup but demonstrated excellent results from their break adjustments.

In the first half, Hainiu's attack exploded, with multiple players scoring from various positions, building a big lead early and taking full control of the game. In the second half, Hainiu deliberately tightened their defense, holding on to the victory. They eventually won 4-2 at home against fourth-placed Yunnan Yukun, ending their previous four-match losing streak. This victory was extremely valuable for Hainiu. Although their league position didn't change, they successfully widened the gap with Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers behind them, laying a foundation for their relegation fight in the second half.

After the first round of the second half, the relegation landscape at the bottom began to diverge. Hainiu's three points boosted their morale and expanded their margin for error, while both Wuhan Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers lost, pushing themselves deeper into the relegation quagmire. The alarms for these two teams include not only their poor form and glaring squad weaknesses but also the typical "everyone piles on the falling team" dynamic common in CSL relegation battles. From the micro competitive environment, individual match dynamics, to the upcoming schedule, the relegation prospects for these two teams are no longer optimistic, and their room for error is almost exhausted.

The CSL relegation battle has always had an implicit competitive logic, commonly known as "everyone kicks a dog when it's down." As the league's second half landscape becomes clearer, all mid-to-lower table teams will actively adjust their point-grabbing strategies, targeting teams deep in the relegation zone with near-collapse form as the safest and easiest path to safety. After witnessing Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers' ineffective break adjustments and continued winless runs, these mid-to-lower teams will inevitably set these two as must-win targets for three points. The pressure on Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers from relegation rivals will intensify greatly.

After the first round of the second half, the attacking and defensive weaknesses of Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers remain unchanged, and their morale and form are declining. Rivals like Qingdao Hainiu and Shenzhen Peng City have noticed this and will undoubtedly raise the intensity when facing them directly. This strategy is understandable: instead of fighting hard against top teams for a low-probability three points, they can go all out against Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers. If successful, it's like earning "six points." Therefore, Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers will face a siege from all opponents going forward.

For both Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers, the next four rounds are the "do-or-die schedule" of the season.

In the next four rounds, Wuhan Three Towns first travel to face Dalian Yingbo, then have three consecutive home games against Henan, Shenzhen Peng City, and Chongqing Tonglianglong. For Three Towns, although getting points will be extremely difficult, if they cannot achieve satisfactory results in these three home matches, turning things around will become even harder. Tianjin Tigers' next four rounds start with two consecutive home games against Peng City and Liaoning Tieren, followed by two away games against Shanghai Shenhua and Qingdao Hainiu. If they cannot produce a small surge of points in these four rounds, their relegation situation will become even more perilous.

Qingdao Hainiu, who won this round, have widened their safety margin with the crucial three points, but their relegation pressure remains huge. Their next two matches against Chengdu Rongcheng and Zhejiang are not easy to get points from. However, Hainiu currently have 13 points, not far behind the teams above them in the relegation battle, but they hold a 5-point advantage over the safety line. This will give them different confidence and mentality. Moreover, although Hainiu suffered four consecutive losses before the break, putting them in the relegation zone, they previously had a four-match winning streak that lifted them to mid-table. Even though they are now in third-from-last, no team dares to underestimate them, simply because Hainiu have the form and courage to fight back.

Currently, teams with 17 points or fewer on the table form the core battleground. This tier includes several teams in very different situations: some are deep in the relegation vortex, urgently needing points to survive, while others like Shenhua and Haigang have little relegation pressure but no chance of winning the title. These contrasting situations create a unique ecosystem in the second half, further exacerbating the relegation difficulties of Wuhan Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers.

Among the two major groups of teams with 17 points or fewer, one consists of those mired in relegation trouble, with Wuhan Three Towns and Tianjin Tigers at the core, plus some mid-to-lower teams with similar points, facing heavy relegation pressure. The other group includes Shanghai Shenhua, Shanghai Haigang, and Zhejiang, who are in the lower half of the table mainly due to points deductions. In terms of current points and squad strength, they don't need to worry about relegation. However, despite having no threat of demotion, these teams still need respectable results and decent standings to satisfy their fans. Therefore, when facing relegation-zone teams, they have every reason to go all out.

Not only these three competitive teams, but as the CSL approaches its final stages, all teams—regardless of their own relegation pressure—almost form a unified consensus when facing relegation-zone sides: since you're everyone's ATM, why wouldn't I take the cash?

This round's match between Tianjin Tigers and Chongqing Tonglianglong away is a living example. Tonglianglong is neither a relegation struggler nor a serious title contender, and they were not in top form before this match—only 19 players trained during the break. But since other teams could take points from Tianjin Tigers, Tonglianglong certainly didn't want to drop any. Compared to their cautious approach in the first meeting early in the season, in this second encounter, Tonglianglong set out from the kickoff to grab points, with highly targeted tactics. After taking a one-goal lead, they began to sit back and then brought on fresh legs to maintain energy, preparing to defend the narrow victory. Tianjin Tigers launched wave after wave of attack against a compact defense but failed to break through. Even if their disallowed goal had stood, one point would have been far from enough. Chongqing Tonglianglong took three points from Tianjin Tigers at minimal cost, while the Tigers paid a heavy price—their head coach received a red card.