It may only be the opening round of the new AFC Champions League Elite campaign.
But after the despair of recent times, Shanghai Shenhua and Shandong Taishan have offered a glimmer of hope to Chinese football.
With Shandong -- inspired by Valeri Qazaishvili 's second-half brace -- claiming a 3-1 win over Central Coast Mariners on Tuesday, which was followed hours later by Shanghai Shenhua coming from behind to beat Pohang Steelers 4-1 , the Chinese Super League showed a hint of life on the continental stage that it once thrived on but has since fallen by the wayside.
And it has not just been on the club front, although the glory days of Guangzhou Evergrande (now a second-tier outfit known as Guangzhou FC ) winning two ACL titles in three years have long past.
The likes of Guangzhou, Shanghai Port (formerly Shanghai SIPG), Shenhua and Shandong once loomed large in Asia, rivalling equally formidable outfits from Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia.
It is well known how the big-spending ways of some of these sides saw stellar names like Robinho, Didier Drogba and Carlos Tevez lured to the CSL.
Then, in 2021, the bubble burst.
The reigning CSL champions at the time, Jiangsu FC , abruptly ceased to exist when seemingly at the peak of their powers.
The banning of commercial sponsors in team names effectively led to the end of lavish spending in the CSL.
Then, there was also the underlying issue of alleged corruption of match-fixing which lingers on till this day -- with the Chinese Football Association just last week slapping lifetime bans of 43 individuals .
Just during the recent international window, China were humbled in the third round of Asian qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup as they were handed a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Japan before throwing away a lead to lose 2-1 to Saudi Arabia -- even though they enjoyed a numerical deficit for over 70 minutes.
In the previous round, they had only narrowly scraped through via a superior head-to-head record with Thailand, having finished level with an identical record with the Southeast Asian outfit.
Even if the focus was solely on the AFC Champions League, the CSL's record over the past few years makes for uneasy reading - although it has to be noted that their cause was not helped by coronavirus.
During the early COVID-impacted years where travel was heavily restricted and determined by respective nations' own protocols, CSL teams made the decision to focus on domestic competition and effectively sent reserve and youth teams to compete in the ACL -- which at the time could only go on by taking place in centralised venues.
The result? In 2021, both China's representatives finished bottom of their respective groups.
Beijing Guoan managed a solitary point -- against Philippine minnows United City -- and scored just three goals while conceding 23 in the process.
Guangzhou fared worse, losing all six matches and letting in 17 goals while netting once.
Based on the squads that were sent to compete, such results were not surprising and yet it was still alarming to see such famous names on the receiving end of sheer hidings.
It was the same again the following season with both Shandong and Guangzhou conceding 24 four goals in six outings. The former, at the very least, had two goals and one point to their names. The latter? Not even a single strike in six straight defeats.
Nonetheless, as travel restrictions begin to ease and the CSL teams could return to fielding their strongest sides, the situation improved slightly last year with Shandong reaching the quarterfinals -- although Zhejiang Professional and Wuhan Three Towns would both fall in the group stage.
Regardless, it is hard to deny that Chinese football is no longer where it was. Domestically, continentally, and internationally.
Still, the start of a new era of Asian club competition coincided with a return of the dominant displays that was once associated with CSL teams.
It could even be three from three on Wednesday with Shanghai Port in action against Johor Darul Ta'zim .
Perhaps, there is still life -- or maybe new life -- in Chinese football.
Local News
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