The AFC Champions League was reversed by the bottom team, and the Shenhua coach called "heartache" again and again

Special correspondent Gan Hui reports Like the last home game of the Chinese Super League in the 2024 season, the last home game of the Shenhua season also suffered Waterloo. In the 6th round of last night's AFC Champions League Elite League, Shenhua played at home against Ulsan, who had previously lost 5 consecutive defeats and ranked at the bottom, and was reversed 1-2. This defeat cast a shadow on Shenhua's road to promotion.

Amadou's injury and Teixeira's cumulative yellow card suspension had a big impact on Shenhua, and coach Slutsky had to make a big adjustment to the midfield and put out a new set of personnel combinations, Wang Haijian, Wu Xi, Yu Hanchao, and Xie Pengfei teamed up.

Ulsan is not the main team, except for the two substitute goalkeepers, they only have 4 substitutes, and, because the previous 5 consecutive defeats have lost the qualification, the outside world generally believes that Shenhua is very likely to win.

In the first half, Shenhua performed well. After the opening, they put a lot of pressure on the opposition by pressing high posts, and Malele's strong body and impact also made the opponent's defense suffer. Throughout the first half, Shenhua created a number of good scoring opportunities, but it was only Andre who scored with a header from a corner.

On the football pitch, wasted chances are likely to be punished, and this game is no exception.

In the second half, Manafa casually passed back to goalkeeper Bao Yaxiong, causing the latter to bring down the opponent in the box and be awarded a penalty, which Calelo slotted; 10 minutes later, Shenhua missed a corner kick defense, Kang Min-woo scored with a header, and Ulsan won 2-1.

With the score behind, Slutsky kept making substitutions and adjustments, but in the end, Shenhua still lost the game 1-2 and ended the 2024 season with a loss.

After the game, Slutsky defined the game as "heartache", "It was a heart-wrenching defeat, we made some simple, low-level mistakes, and to make such mistakes in the AFC Champions League can only swallow the bitter pill of defeat." We were in control of the game and created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we couldn't get the win due to a low-level mistake. ”

Lack of ability to grasp opportunities, set-piece defensive mistakes, etc., are problems that have plagued Shenhua this season. At the post-match press conference, Slutsky talked about the problem of attacking and defending set-pieces, "From the analysis of the goals conceded, the outside world thinks that the goal is conceded from a corner, but in fact, the content is different. The goals conceded today were directly scored, some of the goals conceded before were taken in short corners, and some of them were not won by us in the first place. It's a very heart-wrenching situation, and we've trained a lot on that before. In this game, we also scored from corners. In the future, the attack and defense of set-pieces will definitely be a topic for us to work on. ”

Against the bottom of the East Asian region, Central Coast Mariners and Ulsan, one was an away defeat, the other was reversed at home, and only one point was won in the two games, which was a pity for Shenhua.

With the end of this game, Shenhua has also ended all the games of the 2024 season, and the team will usher in a winter break of about a month.

Summing up the 2024 season, Slutsky believes that it has been a success and an excellent one overall. In the Chinese Super League, Shenhua scored a lot of goals and was runner-up by one point, and the overall performance was satisfactory; The performance of the AFC Champions League cannot be said to be a success, the level and level of this competition is different from that of the league. Shenhua's goal is to advance to the next stage, "It's very uncomfortable to not score points in this game, and I believe that next year, the team will have a deeper understanding of the AFC Champions League." ”

Recently, the Shenhua soldiers have expressed their determination to hit the Chinese Super League championship next season, however, judging from the current Shenhua lineup, there are still shortcomings in some positions and need to be improved through reinforcements. When asked about the direction of the new signings, Slutsky, who has always been quick to talk, did not answer directly, "The goal for next year is definitely the championship, we are only one point away this season, there is no other option, we will work towards this goal, but the new signings, I think you can get a better answer by talking to the sports director." ”