"It's disastrous." Soccer is 'sighing' at the shocking ACLE result

*This content was translated by AI.

The Chinese soccer community, which had recently been struggling with the runner-up of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-23 Asian Cup by China's U-23 national team and a series of European players, faced a disastrous reality this time.

All three teams in the Chinese professional football Super League ranked 10th to 12th, the lowest in the East Asian league stage of the 2025-2026 AFC Champions League Elite (ACLE), which ended on the 18th.

With Chengdu Rongcheng finishing 10th with 6 points (1 win, 3 draws and 4 losses), Shanghai Shenhua only had 4 points (1 win, 1 draw and 6 losses) and Shanghai Port also had 4 points (4 draws and 4 losses).

Among the 12 teams in East Asia, the top eight will advance to the round of 16 tournaments and the bottom four will be eliminated, with all three of the four eliminated teams consisting of Chinese Super League teams. The remaining team is Ulsan HD, which is ranked 9th with 9 points (2 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses).

China is also sighing at the shocking results. Sina Sports said, "With all the ACLE league stages over, the three Chinese Super League teams took the last three positions," and pointed out, "The Chinese teams' ACLE performance is disastrous."

Another media outlet NetEase criticized, "It is shameful that the big three representing the Chinese Super League have won the lowest three positions in East Asia," adding, "The Super League, which was once a regular in the AFC Champions League (ACL) and invested considerably in the Super League, is in unprecedented trouble on the stage of Asia's best club."

"It contrasts sharply with the stable performance of Japanese J-League and Korean K-League teams," he said. "In the aftermath of this tournament's sluggish performance, the Chinese Super League was overtaken by the Thai Super League." Competitiveness in East Asia continues to decline," he said.

In fact, as all three Chinese teams were eliminated this season, the number of teams advancing to the ACLE finals in the 2026-2027 season in the Chinese Super League will be reduced from 2+1 to 1+1. Shanghai Port, the winner of last season's Super League, and Beijing Guoan, the winner of the Play Open FA Cup, will participate in next season's ACLE.

Meanwhile, in the K-League, FC Seoul and Gangwon FC advanced to the round of 16 by ranking 7th and 8th, respectively. Seoul will clash with Vissel Kobe and Gangwon with Machida Zelvia in a home-and-away manner, respectively. From the quarterfinals, a tournament draw will be held with teams from West Asia, and a single round will be held until the final by gathering in Saudi Arabia.

* East Asia region

- Gangwon FC vs. Machida Zelvia (Japan)

- FC Seoul vs. Vissel Kobe (Japan)

- Johor Darlle Takjim (Malaysia) vs Sanfrecce Hiroshima (Japan)

- Melbourne City (Australia) vs Buriram United (Thailand)

* West Asia region

- Al-Sad (Qatar) vs Al-Hilal (Saudi)

- Alduhail (Qatar) vs Al-Ahli (Saudi)

- Al-Shabab Al-Ahli (UAE) vs Traktor (Iran)

- Al-Wahda (UAE) vs RITHAD (Saudi)

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*This content was translated by AI.