Looking back to 2008, Wuhan Guanggu suffered relegation difficulties early in the Chinese Super League. In order to have a chance of survival, the team not only invited Zhu Guanghu, the former coach of the national soccer team, but also spared no expense in signing Li Weifeng, the top center back in Asia at that time. However, in the 18th round of the away match against Beijing Guoan, the fierce scramble between Lu Jiang and Li Wei Feng led to Lu Jiang being sent off with a red card. Guoan appealed against Lu Jiang's red card, and in the end, both Li Wei Feng and Lu Jiang were banned for 8 matches. Faced with no hope of relegation, Wuhan Guanggu withdrew from the match in anger.
During that period, there was not a single professional soccer team in the city of Wuhan.
However, Wuhan fans believe that the source of all this lies in Guoan. From 2008 to 2013 to 2022, whenever Wuhan teams played against Guoan, the fans' enthusiasm was always high. Nonetheless, the gap between Wuhan teams and Guoan has shifted under the comparison of strengths. Since the professionalization of Chinese soccer in 1994, this seems to be the first time that a Wuhan team has the strength to beat Beijing Guoan.
Currently in the Chinese Super League standings, Wuhan three towns with 11 wars, 10 wins and a draw record of 31 points leading the defending champion Shandong Taishan 4 points, scored 36 goals and only lost 6 goals, both offensive and defensive ends of the Chinese Super League leader. Beijing Guoan with 11 games, 4 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses accumulated 16 points, ranked eighth in the standings, once "Guoan will always fight for the first" in this year has appeared to be unable to do so.
In the first phase of the Chinese Super League, Wuhan Three Town went through Hebei, Guangzhou, Shanghai Shenhua, Shanghai Harbor and other powerhouses, and except for a draw with Shenhua, the rest of the matches achieved a double kill. In the second phase, Wuhan Three Town will face Beijing Guoan and Shandong Taishan, the two top teams, and the result will directly affect whether Wuhan can win the first time in China's top soccer league championship.
Observing the recent form, Wuhan Three Town is expected to beat Beijing Guoan at home, breaking the previous disadvantage of Wuhan teams like Wuhan Guanggu and Wuhan Zhuoer against Guoan. In the last round, Wuhan Three Town beat Guangzhou City by 3:0 on the road, while Guoan was beaten by Henan Songshan Longmen by 3:0 on the road.
