Rongcheng + Tongliang Dragon Super Armor leads! Chengdu and Chongqing lead the rise of the west, and Chinese football will welcome a new pattern?

Reporter Cheng Shan reported In the 10th round of the Chinese Super League, Chengdu Rongcheng defeated Shanghai Shenhua 1-0 at home in the top battle, with a goal difference advantage of 23 points, and the team topped the Chinese Super League for the first time in history. After Sichuan Quanxing in 2000, Sichuan football has once again topped the standings of China's top league after 25 years. For Sichuan football, this is a memorable milestone moment. Since its professionalization in 1994, the previous best ranking in the Sichuan top football league was 3rd: created by Sichuan Quanxing in the 1999 and 2000 seasons and Chengdu Rongcheng in the 2024 season.

In the 2000 season, Sichuan Quanxing once ranked first in 6 consecutive rounds, but unfortunately failed to achieve a better ranking in the end, and in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, Chengdu Rongcheng also ranked second in the standings.

At the same time, Chongqing Tonglianglong also won six consecutive victories, beating the Liaoning Iron Man with strong foreign aid, and ranked first in three consecutive rounds in the Central League. This young team, which is dominated by young players, is expected to be upgraded again under the leadership of head coach Salvador, who is good at discovering new talents, so that Chongqing will have a Chinese Super League team again after five years. Chengdu Rongcheng and Chongqing Tonglianglong reached the top of the Chinese Super League and the Chinese League respectively, which means that the Chengdu-Chongqing section of Chinese football, which has been at a low point for a long time in recent years, finally sees the hope of rising again.

The rise of Chengdu Rongcheng and Chongqing Tonglianglong this season has been attributed to the two foreign coaches Xu Zhengyuan and El Salvador. At the same time, the importance of the two teams to local players, especially newcomers, is also worth the expectations of fans. Rongcheng's Wei Shihao is the main international player, and the 21-year-old young defender Hu Hetao is already the absolute main force of the team. Among the main lineup of Tonglianglong in the Central League, only defenders Wang Wenxuan and Ruan Qilong are older than 23 years old. 7 games, 7 goals and 1 assist, tied for the top scorer in the Chinese League The captain Xiang Yuwang is only 21 years old, the main goalkeeper Yao Haoyang, and the back Bai Yutao are only 18 years old, and the future is promising.

Western football, led by the Chengdu-Chongqing region, was at its peak at the turn of the century. In 1999, Sichuan Quanxing and Chongqing Loncin ranked 3rd and 4th respectively, both of which were the highest rankings in the history of the top football leagues of the two places. In 2000, Chongqing Lifan won the FA Cup, and in 2004, Sichuan Guancheng won the runner-up of the FA Cup, which is also the best result of the domestic cup after the professionalization of football in Chengdu and Chongqing. Chongqing Lifan in 2014 and Sichuan Jiuniu in 2023 have both won the championship and promoted to the super. Perhaps, this year, fans can look forward to the first Chinese Super League championship in the history of Sichuan football. If Chongqing Tonglianglong can surpass as the champion of the Central League, Chengdu-Chongqing will win two professional league championships in the same season, which is also an unprecedented grand occasion.

It is worth mentioning that Chengdu and Chongqing have been shortlisted in the first batch of key cities for football development in China. If Chengdu Rongcheng and Chongqing Tonglianglong can make a new breakthrough in league results this year, it will not only greatly promote the development of football in Chengdu and Chongqing, but also change the existing pattern of the Chinese Super League.

In the past ten years, the strong teams with the strength to compete for the championship in the Chinese Super League are basically distributed in the eastern regions of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shandong, and in the past two years, Shanghai has competed for hegemony. The rise of Chengdu Rongcheng will make the Chinese Super League championship from the traditional eastern and coastal semi-arc structure to a three-legged pattern of north and west. Coupled with the promotion of the Chinese Super League, Yunnan Yukun, not only the Chengdu-Chongqing region, but also the entire western football is booming.

If the development of professional football in China wants to be more balanced, it needs to blossom in a comprehensive way in a geographical sense.