Shenhua coach says Chinese teams must up the intensity in Asian competition
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Kawasaki Frontale's Akihiro Ienaga is marked by Shanghai Shenhua's Chan Shinichi in their AFC Champions League Elite football match in Shanghai on March 5, 2025.
PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO - Chinese Super League clubs need to play with greater intensity if they are to succeed in the Asian Champions League Elite, Shanghai Shenhua coach Leonid Slutsky said after his team were eliminated from the continental competition on Wednesday.
Slutsky's side were thrashed 4-0 at Kawasaki Frontale to exit the tournament 4-1 on aggregate, a defeat that came a day after back-to-back CSL winners Shanghai Port suffered a heavy loss to another Japanese side, Yokohama F Marinos.
Former Russia manager Slutsky told reporters he had stressed the importance of matching their opponents' intensity ahead of each of their Champions League games.
"In the Chinese Super League we play with less intensity than in games against Japanese teams, against Koreans teams. This is a very big experience for us," he added.
"This is a way for us to develop our team, for Chinese teams. Japanese teams play more intense football. This is our target.
"I hope next year, because we've also qualified for the Asian Champions League, we will understand and we will play more intense in the Chinese Super League games and in the Champions League games.
"This is the most important thing. This is a challenge for all Chinese Super League clubs."
Shenhua won the first leg in China 1-0 but missed several players through injury in the return, including influential Cameroonian midfielder Ibrahim Amadou.
"Every Chinese club is depending on foreign players but I think this is not the only reason for the result," Slutsky said.
"We also played a lot of games in the Champions League with those players, and the most important thing is the level of intensity.
"If you lose some key players it's not easy for you but it's not only about this."
The defeats for the Shanghai clubs, coupled with Shandong Taishan's withdrawal from the competition, mean no Chinese side will feature when the quarter-finals kick off in Saudi Arabia on April 25. REUTERS
