In the 29th round of the Chinese Super League (CSL), Qingdao West Coast and Chengdu Rongcheng's home match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Qingdao West Coast locking up the relegation spot in the early round. After the match, Football Daily analyzed that the team's previous three consecutive victories contributed to the relegation.
Despite the fact that Qingdao West Coast was once ahead of the game, it was eventually equalized by Chengdu Rongcheng, which is a somewhat unfortunate result, but this point on the way to relegation is really crucial. Currently on the relegation table, Cangzhou Lions and Qingdao West Coast accumulated 29 points, Meizhou Hakka 27 points, Qingdao Hainiu 26 points, Shenzhen Xinpengcheng 26 points, and Nantong Zhiyun 22 points have been locked in relegation. Even if Meizhou Hakka, Qingdao Hainiu and Shenzhen Xinpengcheng all win in the final round, Qingdao West Coast's relegation prospects are still optimistic, unless all three results happen at the same time.
With points tied at 29, the four teams will decide who will be relegated based on wins and losses against each other. As of now, Qingdao Hainiu have 15 points, Qingdao West Coast have 10 points, Cangzhou Lions have 6 points and Shenzhen Xinpengcheng have 2 points. Qingdao West Coast's path to relegation is rock solid, while Shenzhen Xinpengcheng is in trouble due to their poor record against their relegation rivals.
Qingdao West Coast's relegation success was not possible without the previous three consecutive victories, defeating Nantong Zhiyun and Shandong Taishan on the road, and taking down Shenzhen Xinpengcheng at home, which were three key battles that contributed to the relegation. At the same time, seize the Taishan team distracted by multi-front war is also a major key to success.
For newly relegated Qingdao West Coast, summarizing this season's performance and laying a solid foundation for next season's preparation is the team's next priority.
