Foreign stars

Before the season kicked off, the CSL faced a major problem in bringing foreign players and coaches back to China, due to the imposition of pandemic－related travel restrictions.

The league has since secured the return of most of the overseas players and coach－es, and they continue to excel.

Nine of the league's top 10 scorers in the first seven rounds of matches are from overseas.

Stars such as Guangzhou Evergrande's former Barcelona midfielder Paulinho, Shanghai SIPG's former Chelsea player Oscar and Shandong Luneng's former Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini are key players for their clubs and major attractions for fans.

Paulinho posted on his Sina Weibo account: "I wish to show my respect to the CFA, the CSL and my club Guangzhou Evergrande, because all of them have made a great contribution to the start of the 2020 CSL season. All the details satis－fied our players. I hope we can have a per－fect CSL season."

With the season shortened due to the late start, the CSL decided to change the match format, which is being conducted in two phases.

First－phase matches, due to be complet－ed on Sept 28, are being contested in a round－robin format. A knockout stage will follow to decide the champion, AFC Cham－pions League slots and relegation places.