The reporter reported coldly The AFC Champions League East Asia Group 8 will be played on 18/19 February, with Yokohama Marinos, Vissel Kobe, Kawasaki Frontale and Gwangju FC already confirmed, Ulsan HD and Central Coast Mariners already confirmed, and the remaining four qualifying spots in East Asia will be between Johor DT (11 points), Buriram United (11 points), Pohang Steelers (9 points) and Shandong Taishan (10), Shanghai Port (8 points) and Shanghai Shenhua (7 points). The three teams in the Chinese Super League have the possibility of qualifying, and the Shanghai Heroes attack at home, can they surprise their respective fans?

In last season's AFC Champions League, Shandong Taishan entered the top 8, but Zhejiang team and Wuhan Three Towns were eliminated in the group stage, and the harbor did not enter the main competition. The allocation of AFC Champions League quota places is closely related to the points of participating teams in previous seasons. The Chinese Super League is currently ranked 7th in Asia, and if more teams do not enter the knockout stage, the future ranking is likely to be surpassed by the Thai Super League, and the number of participants may change from 2+1 to 1+1. Therefore, the three teams of the Chinese Super League are not only fighting for their own qualification in the final round of the group stage, but also for the future AFC Champions League quota of the Chinese Super League.

Of the 12 teams in the East Asian group, 4 teams were eliminated, and 8 teams could enter the next stage of the competition, with only 1 point for the Central Coast Mariners and 3 points for Ulsan, they were already out of the tournament and there were two elimination places left, which means that at least one of the three teams in the Super League could enter the next stage anyway.

After beating Gwangju FC 3-1 at home in the 7th round, Shandong Taishan's chances of qualifying have increased greatly. At present, Shandong Taishan ranks 7th in East Asia. On the 19th, Shandong Taishan challenged Ulsan HD, which had been out of the game in advance, and if Taishan wins, he can directly lock in the qualification.

Shandong Taishan will have 11 points if they draw and will still be able to qualify as long as one of the following conditions is met - Buriram United lost away to Gwangju FC, Pohang Steelers FC lost away to Johor DT, Pohang Steelers FC beat Johor DT away by 6 goals or more, and Shanghai Port did not beat Yokohama Mariners by 4 goals or more at home.

If Shandong Taishan loses away to Ulsan HD, they need Pohang Steelers to win away against Johor DT, Shanghai Port to fail to win against Yokohama Mariners and Shanghai Shenhua to win against Kobe Victory at home, and at least two of the three conditions must be met for Shandong Taishan to qualify.

Pohang Steelers have lost three consecutive away games, and this round they will challenge Johor DT, which is still likely to be out, and Johor will not take it lightly, and it will be extremely difficult for Pohang Steelers to win. Yokohama Mariners and Vissel Kobe have both qualified early, and it is very likely that they will rotate their lineups for the final game, although their rotational lineups will not be easy to deal with.

Of course, Shandong Taishan can take the initiative to qualify in their own hands, and as long as they play steadily in the game against Ulsan, they should be able to achieve the desired result. Ulsan focused on defending their league title last year, giving up after four consecutive defeats in the AFC Elite Champions League, and only beating Shanghai Shenhua, who had only played two AFC Champions League games in more than a month, until the end of the domestic competition. In the last round away against Buriram United, Ulsan did not do its best and finally lost 1-2. The Korean league has already started on February 15 and Ulsan will certainly focus on the league.

Shanghai Port and Shanghai Shenhua, who both lost to Japanese teams in the 7th round, are not too good at present, ranking in the bottom three or four of the group stage in East Asia, and the qualifying situation is somewhat passive.

In the final round, the opponent of the Shanghai duo is still the Japanese team. On the 18th, Shanghai Shenhua played at home against the Japanese double champion Kobe Victory Ship, which defeated Shanghai Port 4-0 in the last round; On the 19th, Shanghai Port played at home against the Yokohama Mariners who defeated Shenhua by one goal in the last round. The Shanghai duo are playing at home, which is an advantage.

The two Japanese teams will definitely rotate and will not use an all-main lineup. However, it should be noted that Yokohama Mariners and Kobe Victory Ship have actually completed the qualification before the last round, and they have also made adjustments in the use of personnel, but the Kobe Victory Ship playing at home defeated Shanghai Port with a single foreign aid lineup, and Yokohama Mariners hid Brazilian shooter Elber, and also defeated Shanghai Shenhua, who started with five foreign aids.

If the Shanghai duo wants to qualify, in addition to their own efforts, they also need to look at the results of other games.

If Shanghai Port wins, the points can reach 11 points. If Pohang Steelers cannot beat Johor, then Harbour can squeeze out Pohang. If Pohang Steelers also win, they will need Shandong Taishan or Buriram United to lose for Harbour to qualify. There is an extreme situation - Pohang Steelers beat Johor, Buriram United loses to Gwangju, Shandong Taishan draws, and Harbour wins, then there will be 4 teams with 11 points, and before the final round, Harbour has a goal difference of -6, Johor is +4, Buriram is -5, and Taishan is -2, then Harbour can overtake Buriram United in the goal difference comparison and complete the qualification.

If Shanghai Port draws, they will have nine points, and only Pohang Steelers will be able to qualify if they lose at least four goals away to Johor DT and Shanghai Shenhua are winless at home.

Shanghai Shenhua are even more demanding – beating Vissel Kobe and they can take up to 10 points, but they need at least two of the three conditions for Shandong Taishan to lose, Pohang Steelers and Shanghai Port to win in order to qualify on goal difference.