With two strong teams recently defeated, can the Qingdao duo "take advantage of the fire"?

Reporter Chen Yong reports On July 22 and 23, in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, seven teams from the Chinese Super League and one from the China League One will compete. Qingdao West Coast and Qingdao Hainiu will both play at home against the recently defeated Super League teams Beijing Guoan and Chengdu Rongcheng. In the next league match, Chengdu Rongcheng will face Beijing Guoan, and both teams will have to consider the league, leading to adjustments in player usage. Can the Qingdao duo seize the opportunity to advance in the FA Cup? Shao Jiayi will once again lead his team against his former club Guoan, which is also one of the highlights of the match.

West Coast: No worries in the league, can fully strive in the cup competition

For Beijing Guoan, losing at home to Shanghai Shenhua in the 17th round of the league was a setback, breaking their unbeaten streak. In the coming week, they will face a tough schedule: on the 22nd, they will play away against Qingdao Hainiu in the FA Cup quarter-finals; on the 26th, they will face Chengdu Rongcheng away in the 18th round of the Super League.

Compared to Guoan, the choices for Qingdao West Coast may be much simpler. After 17 rounds in the Super League, Qingdao West Coast has 22 points, ranking 9th. From a relegation perspective, they are 14 points ahead of the relegation zone, posing almost no risk. After completing the basic task of avoiding relegation, any further advancement in the rankings will be a pleasant surprise. With the FA Cup reaching the quarter-finals, every step forward is significant for the young Qingdao West Coast, and they will surely strive to perform well in the cup competition.

In their last two matches, Qingdao West Coast defeated their city rivals Qingdao Hainiu and drew with Wuhan Three Towns, showing good form. In the recently concluded 17th round of the league, Qingdao West Coast drew 1-1 away against Wuhan Three Towns. Just 8 minutes into the match, they conceded a goal, but they quickly steadied themselves, launched a counterattack, and equalized through Duan Liuyu. In the 66th minute, Aziz scored, but the goal was ruled offside, a decision that sparked some controversy.

This season, Shao Jiayi has already faced Beijing Guoan once, in the 6th round of the Super League (makeup match), where he returned to the Workers' Stadium as the away team's head coach for the first time. Qingdao West Coast played tenaciously, although they had less than 30% possession, their shot count, shots on target, and corner kicks were quite impressive, ultimately losing narrowly 0-1. This time, with the home advantage against Guoan, Shao Jiayi will surely hope to achieve a better result.

After the draw with Wuhan Three Towns, Shao Jiayi summarized the match, stating that both teams played well in different halves. He was not satisfied with the performance in the first half: "We indeed started too slowly, which is one of the reasons I am not very pleased with the team. However, we came back in the second half and regained our focus!" When asked why this happened, he explained, "Because we just went through a break, and the first match after every break tends to see the team start slowly," Shao Jiayi said, "I hope we can enter the next match with a better mental state!"

Interestingly, after the FA Cup match, on August 16, Qingdao West Coast will also host Beijing Guoan in the 21st round of the Super League. Meeting Guoan three times in one season shows the connection between Shao Jiayi and his former club.

Hainiu: No time to be sad, need to stop the slump first

Qingdao Hainiu will host Chengdu Rongcheng on the 23rd. Chengdu Rongcheng's situation is similar to that of Beijing Guoan; they recently lost to Tianjin Jinmen Tiger in the 17th round of the Super League, dropping in the rankings and trailing the leaders Shenhua by 7 points. Not only has their points situation worsened, but internal issues have also surfaced, with head coach Xu Zhengyuan publicly clashing with the club, creating a delicate atmosphere that will undoubtedly affect the team's fighting spirit.

With their opponents in a tough spot, Qingdao Hainiu actually has a chance to advance at home. However, the problem is that Qingdao Hainiu is currently facing a very serious relegation situation. In the 17th round of the Super League, Qingdao Hainiu lost 0-4 away to relegation rival Shenzhen Xinpengcheng, suffering their fourth consecutive league defeat. They currently share 8 points with Changchun Yatai, trailing 5 points behind 14th place Meizhou Hakka and 8 points behind 13th place Henan Jianye.

"The players are all fighting hard on the field, but everyone is very disappointed with the final result. We have no time to be sad; we need to pick ourselves up immediately because there are FA Cup and league matches coming up. I hope for better luck in the future," said Li Xiaopeng after losing to Xinpengcheng.

Next, Qingdao Hainiu's Super League schedule includes a home match against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger on the 27th, followed by an away match against Dalian Yinfeng, and then a home match against Yunnan Yukun. There is not a single match where they feel confident about earning points, but they must strive to stop the slump; otherwise, facing strong teams like Rongcheng and Shenhua will make it even harder to earn points.

Fully focused on relegation, Qingdao Hainiu's commitment to the FA Cup will certainly be affected, as it is unrealistic for them to compete strongly in both competitions given their current player roster.