A strange comeback: “Dalian Inbo” wipes out a 14-point gap in 5 rounds to become champion

The current season of the Chinese Super League concluded with an unprecedented comeback rarely seen in world football history and a truly dramatic struggle. With only 5 rounds left until the end of the competition, the “Dalian Inbo” club, which was trailing the leader by 14 points, overcame all obstacles to celebrate the national championship.

In the final — 30th round match that decided the fate of the title, the Dalian city team secured a confident 3:1 victory over “Tianjin Tiger” on their home turf.

The golden race and the drama of the 30th round: Equal points, but...

“Chengdu Junchen”, which had been the main contender for the championship until the end of the competition, suffered an unexpected blow in the final round:

• The opponent's mistake: “Chengdu Junchen”, which held the lead, lost 2:3 in a fierce battle against “Shandong Taishan” in the 30th round;

• A 52-point dead end: As a result, both contending clubs finished the competition table with the same score — 52 points each;

• Head-to-head rule: In accordance with the regulations, in case of a tie in points, the teams' head-to-head records were taken into account. Based on this parameter, “Dalian Inbo” outperformed its rival and was declared the new champion of China.

The miracle that wiped out a 14-point gap in 5 rounds

The most sensational aspect of this victory is that with only five rounds left in the season, “Dalian Inbo” had almost given up hope for the championship, and the gap with the leader was 14 points. The team managed to close this distance, which was deemed “impossible” by experts and fans, through a series of consecutive victories and the opponent's loss of points.

Final winners of the competition and penalty points

The current season in Chinese football took place against the backdrop of a strict anti-corruption campaign, and this factor had a serious impact on the tournament table:

Before the start of the season, as part of anti-corruption investigations, the federation deducted 5 points from the “Beijing Guoan” team and 10 points from the “Shanghai Shenhua” club. Despite this, “Beijing Guoan” managed to collect 50 points and finish the season in third place with bronze medals.