The Sweeper

📺 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺

🇨🇳 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗱𝘂 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘄 𝗮 𝟭𝟮-𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟰 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 🇨🇳

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-ever 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?

Watch or listen on Spotify, Apple or YouTube! Links below ⤵️

🇩🇿 3/211: ALGERIA 🇩🇿

This is our Patreon-exclusive series 'Tales from the 211', in which we are telling a short story from all 211 countries in FIFA in alphabetical order.

Up on the third episode is Algeria and JS Saoura, the club based in the Saharan city of Béchar that has made the desert a tougher place to go than Stoke on a wet & windy Tuesday night.

Listen on Patreon: patreon.com/sweeperpod

🏝️ How many of these European football clubs did you know were based on islands?

Follow us @SweeperPod for more niche football geography and check out our 5-star rated world football podcast via the link in our bio.

🇧🇷 Botafogo in 2023 - perhaps the only other bottle job comparable with China’s Chengdu Rongcheng this season…

📺 𝗙𝗨𝗟𝗟 𝗘𝗣𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗗𝗘 📺

🇨🇳 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗱𝘂 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘄 𝗮 𝟭𝟮-𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝟰 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 🇨🇳

🟢 Listen on Spotify: bit.ly/SpotifyChengdu
📺 Watch on YouTube: bit.ly/YouTubeChengdu