At the start of October, Chengdu Rongcheng had been top of the Chinese Super League all season and were given a 99.9% chance of winning the title: they had a 12-point lead over challengers Dalian Yingbo with four games to go.
What then followed was a bottle job of stratospheric proportions: Chengdu lost all four of their remaining matches – including a clash with Dalian, who stole in on H2H to claim their first title.
So what were the most dramatic moments in the run-in? How on earth can Chengdu’s collapse from such a comfortable position be explained? And what is it about this CSL season that means they may never have such a good opportunity again?
Plus, reactions from China and the rest of the world, plus a look at the most insane league bottle jobs in world football – from Brazil’s Botafogo in 2023 to Dutch giants Ajax in 2025.
Join us on for a round-up of all the crazy records set around the football world this week: 51 red cards were handed out in an U20 match in Brazil, a Romanian team scored every 100 seconds in a 53-0 rout and a 65-year-old wanted by Interpol found the net in Suriname.
John Duerden's article 'Choke of the Century? Six reasons why Chengdu collapsed' from his excellent 'How Football Explains Asia' Substack is here.
Sacha Pisani's 'The blame game begins in China: What really went wrong in John Aloisi’s historic title collapse' for is here.
Chapters:
00:00 – A Super League season like no other
01:04 – 12 points ahead with 4 games left
07:48 – The reasons for Chengdu’s collapse
11:44 – Dalian Yingbo’s unshakeable belief
14:02 – Reactions from China and beyond
16:53 – Football’s biggest league bottle jobs
