Chinese Super League: Guangzhou FC relegated after defeat by Changchun Yatai | OneFootball

Guangzhou Football Club have been relegated from the Chinese Super League following a 4-1 defeat at home against Changchun Yatai on Tuesday night.

The eight-time CSL champions, who were formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Tabao Football Club, have suffered quite a dramatic fall from grace after winning the league in 2019.

What is the latest news about Guangzhou FC?

It was always going to be an impossible task to avoid relegation having picked up just 17 points from 33 games.

But Zheng Zhi’s side never really looked like they were capable of putting up much of a fight.

That task became even harder when Wang Jinxian’s first-half strike gave Changchun Yatai the lead.

Yan Dinghao fired them back into the game 20 minutes from halftime with Changchun Yatai taken by surprise.

But Changchun Yatai retook the lead when Cheng Changcheng swept the ball home with his right boot before Li Jiaheng scored an unfortunate own goal to rub salt in the wound.

Tan Long then added a fourth in the final quarter to secure the result.

The loss to Changchun Yatai makes Guangzhou FC the third and final team to be relegated to the Chinese Jia League, alongside Wuhan Yangtze River and Hebei Football Club.

How much have Guangzhou FC spent in recent years?

According to the club’s official website, “At present, Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao FC is believed to be the most successful and most influential football club in Asia.”

But that success has not come cheap.

Guangzhou’s owners Evergrande have invested a huge ton of money into the club over the past decade in an effort to turn it into a global superpower to rival that of Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.

Dario Conca was reportedly the third-highest paid player in the world – behind only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – when he signed for Guangzhou in 2011.

Meanwhile, Jackson Martinez was signed from Atletico Madrid in 2016 for a staggering €42 million.

Paulinho also turned heads when he joined Guangzhou from Tottenham Hotspur for an initial €14 million in 2016. The Brazilian midfielder rejoined the club in 2016 from Barcelona for a further €42 million.

However, it has come at a great cost to the owners, who find themselves in financial difficulty as a result.