The 2020 Chinese Super League, officially known as the 2020 Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League (Chinese: 2020中国平安中国足球协会超级联赛) for sponsorship reasons, was the 17th season since the establishment of the Chinese Super League. The season was scheduled to begin on 22 February and to end on 31 October, but was postponed following the COVID-19 pandemic. On 1 July 2020, the Chinese Football Association announced that the season would be split into two stages. In the first stage, which began on 25 July 2020 and concluded on 29 September 2020, 16 teams were split into two groups in two locations, one in Dalian and the other in Suzhou. On 2 September 2020, the Chinese Football Association announced that the second stage would begin on 16 October 2020 and conclude on 12 November 2020. Jiangsu Suning beat defending champions Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao 2–1 on aggregate in the finals to win their first-ever top flight title. However, three months later, Jiangsu was dissolved. As a result, the fourth-placed Shanghai SIPG gained a place in the 2021 AFC Champions League along with Guangzhou and Beijing Sinobo Guoan, while Shijiazhuang Ever Bright avoided relegation.
Club changes
Clubs promoted from 2019 China League One
- Qingdao Huanghai
- Shijiazhuang Ever Bright
Clubs relegated to 2020 China League One
- Beijing Renhe
Dissolved entries
Tianjin Tianhai
Shijiazhuang Ever Bright return to the division after a 3-year absence. Qingdao Huanghai compete in the Chinese Super League for the first time in the club's history. Beijing Renhe were relegated to China League One after spending 2 seasons in the Chinese Super League. Shenzhen were reprieved from relegation after finishing second-bottom due to the dissolution of Tianjin Tianhai.
Name changes
- Dalian Yifang F.C. changed their name to Dalian Pro in January 2020.
Clubs
Personnel and stadiums
Locations
Managerial changes
Coach nationality
Foreign players
- Foreign players: The number of foreign players (excluding goalkeepers) that clubs can register over the course of the season is increased from six to seven and the number of foreign players allowed on each CSL team at any given time is also increased from four to five. A maximum of five foreign players can be registered for each match with a maximum of four can be fielded at any time during the match.
- Naturalized players: There is no limits in registering naturalized players. There is no limits in fielding Chinese-descent naturalized players. However, only one non-Chinese-descent naturalized player can be fielded as native player while other non-Chinese-descent naturalized player(s) fielded will be counted as foreign player(s).
- Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan players: Each club can register one Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan player of Chinese descent (excluding goalkeepers), provided that he was registered as a professional footballer in one of those three associations for the first time in his career, as a native player.
- Players name in bold indicates the players that were registered during the mid-season transfer window.
- Players name in ITALICS indicates the players that left their respective clubs during the mid-season transfer window.
- ^1 For Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwanese players, if they are non-naturalized and were registered as professional footballers in Hong Kong's, Macau's, or Chinese Taipei's football association for the first time, they are recognized as native players. Otherwise they are recognized as foreign players.
Regular season
Group A
Stadiums
- Dalian Sports Centre Stadium
- Dalian Youth Football Training Base Main Stadium
- Jinzhou Stadium
- Puwan Stadium (Reserve)
League table
Results
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
Results by match played
Group B
Stadiums
- Kunshan Sports Centre Stadium
- Suzhou Olympic Sports Centre
- Suzhou Sports Center
- Changshu Stadium (Reserve)
League table
Results
Positions by round
To preserve chronological evolvements, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled, but added to the full round they were played immediately afterwards. For example, if a match is scheduled for round 7, but then played between rounds 8 and 9, it will be added to the standings for round 8.
Results by match played
Championship stage
Bracket
Quarter-finals
First leg (Round 15)
Second leg (Round 16)
Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao won 8–1 on aggregate.
Beijing Sinobo Guoan won 4–3 on aggregate.
1–1 on aggregate. Shanghai SIPG won 5–4 on penalties.
Jiangsu Suning won 2–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The winners will qualify for the 2021 AFC Champions League group stage.
First leg (Round 17)
Second leg (Round 18)
Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao won 3–1 on aggregate.
Jiangsu Suning won 3–2 on aggregate.
5th–8th place playoffs
First leg (Round 17)
Second leg (Round 18)
Shandong Luneng Taishan won 8–5 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Chongqing Dangdai Lifan won 10–9 on penalties.
7th–8th place playoffs
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Shanghai Greenland Shenhua won 5–1 on aggregate.
5th–6th place playoffs
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
5–5 on aggregate. Shandong Luneng Taishan won 4–3 on penalties.
3rd–4th place playoffs
The winner qualified for the 2021 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs.
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Beijing Sinobo Guoan won 3–2 on aggregate.
Finals
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Jiangsu Suning won 2–1 on aggregate.
Relegation stage
Bracket
9th–16th place playoffs
First leg (Round 15)
Second leg (Round 16)
Tianjin TEDA won 3–1 on aggregate.
Dalian Pro won 3–2 on aggregate.
Henan Jianye won 2–1 on aggregate.
Guangzhou R&F won 2–1 on aggregate.
9th–12th place playoffs
First leg (Round 17)
Second leg (Round 18)
Tianjin TEDA won 3–2 on aggregate.
Henan Jianye won 5–3 on aggregate.
13th–16th place playoffs
First leg (Round 17)
Second leg (Round 18)
Shenzhen won 3–2 on aggregate.
3–3 on aggregate. Qingdao Huanghai won 5–4 on penalties.
15th–16th place playoffs
The winner of the playoff will qualify to the relegation play-offs, whereas the loser will be directly relegated to the 2021 China League One.
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Wuhan Zall won 2–1 on aggregate.
13th–14th place playoffs
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Shenzhen won 4–1 on aggregate.
11th–12th place playoffs
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Guangzhou R&F won 4–3 on aggregate.
9th–10th place playoffs
First leg (Round 19)
Second leg (Round 20)
Henan Jianye won 2–1 on aggregate.
Relegation play-offs
Overview
Matches
First leg
Second leg
Wuhan Zall won 3–2 on aggregate and stayed in the Chinese Super League.
Final ranking
Player statistics
Hat-tricks
Awards
Players of the Round
The following players were named the Players of the Round.
League attendances
References
External links
- Current CSL table, and recent results/fixtures at Soccerway
