Shanghai Shenhua: In the absence of two foreign aids, can they still win at home?

Special correspondent Gan Hui reports At 8 p.m. on December 4, Shenhua will play this season's South Korean K-League champion Ulsan HD at the Shanghai Stadium in the final match of the 2024 season. After this game, Shenhua will enter a winter break of about a month, and the team will gather in Haikou, Hainan Province in early January next year to prepare for the 2025 season.

After 5 rounds of the AFC Champions League Elite League, Shenhua has 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, accumulating 7 points, temporarily ranking sixth in East Asia.

In the last round away against South Korea's Gwangju FC, Shenhua not only lost 0-1 to the opponent, but also the core of the midfield, Teixeira, received a yellow card for a tactical foul and accumulated yellow cards and was suspended in this round. Meanwhile, another Shenhua midfielder, Amadou, continued to be sidelined with a knee injury in the final round of the league against Chengdu Rongcheng.

The midfield duo of Amadou and Teixeira play a very important role in Shenhua's attacking and defensive system. In the upcoming battle against Ulsan HD, Teixeira and Amadou are both unplayable, and it will be difficult for Shenhua to score points.

After the match against Gwangju FC, Slutsky analyzed the reasons for the defeat and said, "In this game, we were behind the opponent in terms of overall offensive and defensive transitions and speed, and we did not play a regular game for a long time, which made us lack a sense of rhythm on the field. It's not just about the starters, it's about the substitutes, we haven't been getting into the rhythm of the game, we've been a little slow in all aspects, so it's clear how the result is going. I think after today's game, we'll be better at home next week. ”

After returning to Shanghai from Gwangju, South Korea, head coach Slutsky tried to help the team find the groove and rhythm of the game while experimenting with a new combination of personnel in the midfield.

Unlike Shenhua, Ulsan HD has always been in the game. After winning the K-League title, they challenged for this season's "double" on November 30, but they lost to Pohang Steelers in the final of the Korea Cup.

Slutsky has previously said about the team's goal for this season's AFC Champions League Elite League: "Our goal is definitely to qualify. It took us a long time to get used to the rhythm of the game in the first game of the AFC Champions League. The second race was difficult, our physical condition and our fitness situation when we arrived in Malaysia was difficult. The third was a red card that changed the game. Hopefully, we will be able to achieve our goals and move on to the next stage. ”

Judging from the first 5 rounds, Shenhua performed very well at home, winning both home games, defeating Pohang Steelers and Kawasaki Frontale respectively, scoring 6 points, but only 1 point in 3 away games, which is due to its own strength, as well as the impact of schedules and long-distance travel.

Shenhua's first away game of the season was against Johor, Malaysia, after the league match against Qingdao Manatee, the team returned to Shanghai overnight, flew from Shanghai to Singapore the next day, and then drove to Johor Bahru, Malaysia, all the way for 10 hours. The second away challenge to the Australian Central Coast Mariners, the team and the AFC Champions League elite league in succession, after the end of the league with Chengdu Rongcheng on the night back to Shanghai, the next day from Shanghai to Sydney, the flight time of 10 hours, arrived in Australia on the day to adapt to the venue, the next day to play the game. The third away game was against Gwangju, South Korea, and the team flew for 1.5 hours + bus for 4 hours, and it was all the way again. During their stay in Korea, they suffered a once-in-a-century blizzard, and Gwangju was unusually cold, which affected the state of the team members to a certain extent. The day after the competition, Shenhua departed from her hotel in Gwangju at 9 a.m. local time in South Korea and returned to Shanghai at around 10 p.m. Beijing time, taking 14 hours to return.

After this round of matches against Ulsan HD, Shenhua will usher in the holiday, and the next round of the AFC Champions League Elite League will be in February next year, Shenhua's schedule is to play away to Yokohama Mariners on February 12 and home to Vissel Kobe on February 18.

Shenhua, who finished second in the Chinese Super League in the 2024 season, has already qualified for the main match of next season's AFC Champions League, and some players half-jokingly talked about their expectations for the new season: "I hope that next season's away schedule will be a little better than this year." ”