Sometimes the fairy tale in football is completely broken abroad, even if you are used to it there. Euro-football.ru reported on this.
Leonid Slutsky, a coach who has seen a lot in Europe, has now felt all the difficulties of Eastern football. Winning at home and then losing 0-4 in the return match is also possible.
"Shanghai Shenhua" was eliminated from the AFC Champions League, and talks began again about whether Chinese clubs have a future, as Japanese and Korean teams dominate the tournament. Before the return match, several players were injured at "Shanghai": main central defender Chu Chenjie left the field, and there were doubts about forward Andre Luis and midfielder Ibrahima Amadou.
If one or two more injuries occurred, they would have had to ask for help from the basketball league to strengthen the defense. But life is tough, and the schedule is strict: the match against "Kawasaki Frontale" was approaching.
The Chinese club came to Japan after a small but hopeful home victory (1-0). This win was achieved due to an own goal by the opponent's defender.
But the joy quickly turned into concern as "Kawasaki" openly took control of the ball. In the 24th minute, the hosts' defender Asahi Sasaki scored a goal.
The subsequent events developed in the usual way: Japanese teams know well how to keep the injured opponent under pressure until they fully surrender. In the second half, "Shenhua" somewhat recovered.
At the beginning of the game, they launched attacks forward, and the Chinese could have equalized. However, "Kawasaki" did not lose their composure; they pursued their goal precisely like samurai.
In the 64th minute, Erison increased the score to 2-0, and a few minutes later Ito made it 3-0. The guests were surprised by the two-goal difference and attacked hard and recklessly.
In the final minutes of the game, the fourth goal was scored. Thus, the aggregate score after two games was 1-4, and the AFC Champions League ended for Slutsky.
The statistics were also hopeless: ball possession was 45% to 55%, corner kicks were 1 to 6, and shots on goal were 4 to 8. The 0-4 defeat was the biggest loss under the Russian coach in "Shenhua's" history.
Sometimes it is useful to realize through such painful defeats how far Asian football is from a high level. The famous coach Valery Nepomnyashchy emphasized, speaking about Slutsky's elimination from the AFC Champions League, that Japanese and Korean teams are stronger than Chinese clubs.
According to him, Japanese and Korean clubs play at a high level, while in China there is a big gap between favorites and weak teams, and the overall intensity is lacking. Everything was expected in advance.
"Kawasaki" is one of the leaders of the Japanese league, winning gold medals and cups in recent years, while "Shanghai Shenhua" is trying to approach the leading group in China. In addition, there were problems with the competition schedule and the team roster.
Leonid Slutsky did not look for excuses after the game: "We showed activity at the beginning of the second half, but quickly conceded two goals. There is a big difference in intensity between Chinese and Japanese, as well as Korean teams," he said.
The coach emphasized that the team needs to learn to play tougher and faster. He also noted that the absence of leaders should not always be the reason for defeats.
The end
