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Reporter Chen Yong reports On the afternoon of December 1, the match between Chengdu Rongcheng and Shenzhen Xinpeng City in the 19th round of the U21 League was quite eye-catching. In addition to the referee of the game is the Chinese Super League referee Wang Wei, the national team player Hu Hetao and his teammate Muta Lifu in Rongcheng appeared in the list, and the two of them rushed to help the Chengdu Rongcheng U21 team to help the team achieve the goal of rushing to the second level.

Shenhua U21 was blocked

The 2024 U21 league season is currently in its final stage, the final three rounds of matches. After the first 19 rounds, there was a clear differentiation in the U21 league standings, with the top three teams Chengdu Rongcheng, Wuhan Three Towns and Shanghai Shenhua having a clear point advantage, with Chengdu Rongcheng 47 points, Wuhan Three Towns 46 points, and Shanghai Shenhua 43 points. However, there are only two U21 spots in the 2025 season, and the three teams still have to compete fiercely.

On November 30, Shanghai Shenhua played against Nantong Zhiyun, the deputy squad leader of the U21 final stage standings, theoretically this was a game without suspense, but unexpectedly, in this game, Nantong Zhiyun U21 team played very tenacious, and finally drew 0-0 with Shanghai Shenhua U21 team.

Liu Chengyu, who is the top scorer in the Shanghai Shenhua U21 team, did not start this game, as did other players who played in the three major games such as Yang Haoyu, Liu Chengyu only came off the bench in the second half of this game, and these factors affected Shenhua's game. What's more, the Shanghai Shenhua U21 team was also unlucky in the game, failing to grasp many scoring opportunities, and the goalpost also prevented Shenhua from scoring.

On the morning of December 1, Wuhan Three Towns U21 team played against Beijing Guoan U21 team. In the first half, Beijing Guoan took advantage of a free kick opportunity to score first, and in the second half, Wuhan Three Towns scored three goals in a row, Liu Yiheng scored a hat trick, and finally Wuhan Three Towns won 3-1, 3 points ahead of Shanghai Shenhua U21 team.

Another key battle on the afternoon of the 1st was the Chengdu Rongcheng U21 team against the Shenzhen Xinpeng City U21 team. At the beginning of this game, it entered a fast rhythm of attack and defense, and Shenzhen Xinpeng City took the initiative to press the attack, but this also gave Chengdu Rongcheng more opportunities, Xu Hong and Liao Rongxiang scored two goals for Chengdu Rongcheng. Before half-time, Shenzhen Xinpeng City once hit the post. In the second half, both sides attacked and defended each other, but neither was able to score. With the victory in this game, Chengdu Rongcheng's points reached 47 points, 4 points ahead of Shanghai Shenhua, and grasped the initiative of Chong B.

Although Shenzhen Xinpeng City lost the game, Shenzhen Xinpeng City's performance in this season's U21 League has been recognized by many parties, and their proactive attitude and fast passing have left a deep impression.

The influence of the U21 league has increased

In the next three rounds of the U21 League, the schedule of the three favorite teams is as follows: in the 20th round, Chengdu Rongcheng will play against Beijing Guoan, Wuhan Three Towns will play against Changchun Yatai, and Shanghai Shenhua will play Tianjin Jinmen Tigers; In the 21st round, Shanghai Shenhua and Wuhan Three Towns faced off directly, and Chengdu Rongcheng's opponent was Zhejiang, which is currently ranked fourth; In the final round, Shanghai Shenhua and Chengdu Rongcheng faced off directly, and the opponent of Wuhan Three Towns was Henan. In these matches, the matchup between the two favourites may have more of an impact on the course of the second division.

According to the rules, the top two teams in the U21 League in the 2024 season will be promoted to the 2025 season of the China Second League, when the team will be renamed Team B, and will compete in the second division together with Shandong Taishan B Team and Shanghai Port B Team. In this season's China B League, Shandong Taishan B team and Shanghai Port B team performed very well, both reached the championship group, and had a good performance in the championship group. In the end, Shandong Taishan B team ranked sixth in the second division, and Shanghai Port B team ranked ninth in the second division.

It is worth noting that in this U21 League, some Chinese Super League referees and even international-level referees rushed to the competition area: in the match between Zhejiang and Tianjin Jinmen Tigers, the referee was Shen Yinhao, an international-level referee; In the match between Shanghai Shenhua and Nantong Zhiyun, the referee is Gu Chunhan; In the match between Henan and Meizhou Hakka, the referee is Jin Jingyuan, an international-level referee; In the match between Wuhan Three Towns and Beijing Guoan, the referee was Ren Tong; In the match between Chengdu Rongcheng and Shenzhen Xinpeng City, the referee is Wang Wei; In the match between Cangzhou Lions and Changchun Yatai, the referee was Dai Yige. Some of the Super League referees will complete the final phase of the entire U21 League.

The assistance of international players and international referees has made the U21 league a lot of attention. In the closing stage of the U21 League, in addition to the live broadcast on multiple platforms such as football channels, CCTV and CCTV Sports also broadcast some games live, which naturally further enhanced the influence of the U21 League.