By Sportswriters Yao Youming and Wang Hengzhi
BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- Who will win the 2019 Chinese Super League (CSL) which kicks off on Friday? Actually, it's pretty hard to say.
In the 2018 season, Shanghai SIPG grabbed the league title for the first time, ending Guangzhou Evergrande's seven-year dominance. But they have since been depleted by the loss of star midfielder Wu Lei, who joined Spanish side Espanyol in January.
The defending champions didn't sign anyone during the off-season. When facing Beijing Guoan in the CFA Super Cup final on February 23, SIPG head coach Vitor Pereira played Lyu Wenjun in Wu Lei's place, and his side brought home the trophy after an easy 2-0 win. Winning the league title has given SIPG's players a huge confidence boost, and besides defending the CSL crown, Pereira may also have ambitions in the 2019 AFC Champions League.
Guangzhou Evergrande, who won every edition of the CSL between 2011 and 2017, are expected to be SIPG's biggest challengers.
The traditional CSL powerhouses have pocketed several Chinese rising stars recently, including Zhang Xiuwei, He Chao, Wei Shihao and Liu Yiming. During the winter transfer window, the two-time Champions League winners also signed South Korea's Park Ji-Soo and Tyias Browning of England.
Interestingly, the club also announced that, for the new CSL season, it would play only two non-Chinese footballers, despite a maximum of four being permitted. If coach Fabio Cannavaro can get his players firing on all cylinders, Evergrande may yet regain their CSL title in 2019.
Beijing Guoan, winners of the 2018 CFA Cup, are also holding themselves to high standards ahead of the new season. The team, which already contained many Chinese internationals, has signed six players, including hitman Zhang Yuning and South Korean defender Kim Min-Jae.
"We will face an intense schedule in the new season, which poses a new challenge. The new season is coming and I hope we can prove ourselves in the season opener. And I am looking forward to meeting the fans in our home debut," Guoan head coach Roger Schmidt told Xinhua.
Besides chasing the league title, Guoan find themselves in a unique position in 2019, having signed China's first naturalized footballers, Hou Yongyong and Li Ke. Chinese fans will doubtless be hoping that the duo can help their new nation qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Hou made his Guoan debut in the CFA Super Cup and said he felt good, though coach Schmidt cautioned that the naturalized players would need time to adjust to their new environment.
One of the star arrivals in the CSL in 2019 is Belgian midfielder Marouane Fellaini. The 31-year-old former Manchester United player could give Shandong Luneng the extra impetus to go for the CSL title this season after last season's third-placed finish.
Fellaini will join up with Italian striker Graziano Pelle in the Jinan-based side, under the tutelage of local coach Li Xiaopeng. Luneng's supporters compared the two players to two towers, hoping they can use their considerable height to break through their opponents' defense.
Another team to watch out for are Dalian Yifang, who notably signed Slovakian midfielder Marek Hamsik from Italian side Napoli, and will be eager to improve on last season's disappointing 11th-placed finish.
Along with Yifang, Jiangsu Suning and Hebei China Fortune are also likely to be in the mix for the Champions League places, as the 2019 CSL season is shaping up to have plenty of intriguing subplots up and down the league.
The 2019 CSL season runs from March 1 to December 1, 2019.
