Beijing Guoan VS Shanghai Shenhua Photo: VCG
Beijing Guoan's newly signed Serbian international Uros Spajic joined the team in Shanghai on Tuesday as they gear up for the Chinese Super League (CSL) clash against Shanghai Shenhua on Saturday.
Owing to historical context and their competitive encounters over the years,
MK sport the match between the capital club and Shenhua is seen as one of the most intense and emotionally charged rivalries in the CSL. The two clubs have begun the 2025 season as title contenders.
After sales opened on Monday morning on Shenhua's official online ticketing platform, tickets for the derby, ranging in price from 80 yuan ($11) to 460 yuan, had sold out by Tuesday.
A staff member with the online ticketing platform told the Global Times on Tuesday that visitors can register for a standby chance and will be notified if there are any available tickets.
During the opening round of the CSL last weekend, when Shenhua squeezed past Changchun 2-1 thanks to a last-ditch goal from Andre Luis, a total of 38,783 fans watched the game at the Shanghai Stadium.
Attendance at the match between Guoan and Shenhua is expected to rise further given the highly anticipated storylines, such as whether the newly Chinese naturalized player Serginho will make an appearance, and how Beijing's defense will cope with Shanghai's attacking combination, Liu Yu, a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old Serginho, who is originally from Brazil and has not confirmed his Chinese name yet, missed the first round of the league due to incomplete naturalization procedures, and it's still uncertain whether he will appear in the second round. The attacking midfielder's match form and role at Guoan will provide important insights for the Chinese national team's preparations for the World Cup Asian qualifiers scheduled in March.
Another Chinese naturalized player, Li Ke, who departed for Shenhua in January after spending six years with Guoan, will face his former club.
Serbian center back Spajic is Beijing's last signing of the winter transfer window. The former captain of Red Star Belgrade is seen as an upgrade to the Guoan backline. As defender Bai Yang was sent off in the first round, Spajic has to race against time to get up to speed for his potential debut.
Beijing will try to find solutions to neutralize Shanghai's attacking trio of Luis, Joao Teixeira and Saulo Mineiro, who contributed to Shenhua's 24 shots on goal in the opening round against Changchun.
Another defender that could pair up with Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui is Chinese international Wu Shaocong, who joined Beijing from Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir in January.
Other intriguing matchups in the second round see Shandong host Dalian while Chengdu eyes their second home victory against Tianjin after defeating Wuhan in the first round.
Shanghai Port, Shenhua's city rival, and Guoan ranked first and second in the passing accuracy rankings for the first round of the CSL, with rates of 86.59 percent and 85.45 percent, respectively, according to the official data from the CSL.
