Special correspondent Gan Hui reports In the heavy rain of Kawasaki, Shenhua ended the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Elite League campaign. Although Shenhua made a surprise at home a week ago, defeating Kawasaki Frontale by one goal in the first leg of the AFC Champions League elite league quarterfinals, but when they came to Kawasaki, Japan, in the absence of Amadou, Andre and Zhu Chenjie, Shenhua lost 0-4 in the second leg, and was eliminated with an aggregate score of 1-4 over two legs. With Harbour and Shenhua missing out on promotion, the AFC Champions League journey of this season's Chinese Super League teams has all ended early.

In the first leg of the match with Kawasaki Frontale, although Shenhua won the game, but the price paid was not small, the main defender Amadou left knee medial collateral ligament damage 2 injury, posterior cruciate ligament 3 injury, which made the second leg Shenhua's injury list cover the front center and backfield of the three key players - Andre, Amadou and Zhu Chenjie. In this regard, Shenhua has already lost at the starting line.

In terms of arrangement, head coach Slutsky followed the 4321 formation in the previous game, Li Ke replaced Amadou, and he was flanked by Wu Xi and Yang Haoyu. Mineiro, who has recovered from his injuries, replaces teenager Liu Chengyu in front of him, followed by Teixeira and Xu Haoyang. After the opening, Shenhua played very passively, fell into a tired defensive situation, and was hit by Asahi Sasaki in the near corner in the 24th minute to equalize the aggregate score. Teixeira, who had the most possession of the ball, dropped back in the position due to the pressure from the midfield, but Shenhua's ball was still difficult to get to Mineiro. Throughout the first half, the scene was almost one-sided passive.

In the second half, Shenhua moved the line forward, increased the pressing of the midfield, and slowly began to create opportunities. But when Slutsky just made substitution adjustments, Liu Chengyu and Gao Tianyi, who had just replaced Xu Haoyang and Yang Haoyu, had not touched the ball, and Kawasaki Frontale scored the second goal. Then in just 4 minutes, Shenhua conceded another goal, and their mentality completely collapsed, and they were irretrievably weakened by Marsinho before the end of the game, and finally lost 0-4.

Speaking after the game, Slutsky concluded: "In the first half of the game we were in a state of deep defense, and we were relatively passive and did not create any good attacking opportunities. At half-time, I asked my players to be bold on the ball and find a way to open up the situation on the offensive end. At the beginning of the second half, we played well and created some chances, but unfortunately we conceded two goals in a row in a short period of time. We conceded two goals in a good phase and I think that's part of football. ”

Judging from the game, the three main injuries and stoppages do have a great impact on the team. Li Ke's technical and tactical ability and current state are difficult to replace Amadou's role. Without Amadou's Shenhua's midfield, the defensive barrier strength has dropped significantly. In the frontcourt, Mineiro, a single striker, is difficult to play the role of a fulcrum, and Shenhua's attack cannot advance smoothly, which correspondingly increases the pressure on the defensive line.

Shenhua's big score loss has its own reasons and problems, and it also reflects the gap between Chinese and Japanese football.

In the 2024/25 AFC Champions League Elite League, the three Chinese Super League teams of Harbour, Shenhua and Shandong Taishan all lost away from home against Japanese J-League teams. In the second leg of the AFC Champions League in the last two days, last season's Chinese Super League champions and runners-up Harbour and Shenhua both lost to their respective opponents Yokohama Mariners and Kawasaki Frontale.

After the second leg, both Slutsky and his players talked about the gap.

In his post-match press conference, Slutsky highlighted the difference in the intensity of the game, "This is the first time I have led the team to the AFC Champions League Elite League, and through the experience of these 10 games, I feel that there is still a gap between us and the Japanese and South Korean teams in terms of game intensity. Before every game, I remind the players to be on par with their opponents in terms of intensity, so that they can compete with their opponents. We will take the experience of this AFC Champions League elite competition seriously, and in the upcoming AFC Champions League elite league season, I hope to further improve the intensity of the game, and follow the example of those strong teams in the Asian arena, I think this is the problem and gap that we need to face in the Super League clubs. ”

Eddie said: "The gap between the two sides is actually mainly reflected in the reaction to the switch between attack and defense, and there is also a gap between the other side and the other party in terms of personal skills, which is also a problem that we have to work harder to correct in the future." ”

With the elimination of Shenhua and Harbour and missing the top 8 of the AFC Champions League Elite League, the technical points of the AFC clubs of the Chinese Super League have been confirmed to be overtaken by the Thai Super League, which means that in the 2026/27 AFC Champions League season, the Chinese Super League will only have 1 AFC Champions League elite seat, 1 AFC Champions League elite league play-off seat and 1 AFC Champions League 2 main match seat. It is frustrating to be forced to cut the quota due to inferior skills, but on the other hand, seeing the gap with the top teams in Asia also objectively sets a clear direction and standard for the improvement of the Super League teams themselves.