Gamba Osaka booked their place in the AFC Champions League (ACL) for the third consecutive year on Tuesday 7 February as they beat 3-0 Malaysia Premier League winners Johor Darul Ta'zim in the ACL play-off match at Suita City Football Stadium.

Match Details (Japanese version only)

Starting the camp from mid-January, Gamba Osaka's first official match was against Johor DT, the Malay league champions three years running. Facing the opponents whose regular season started in February and the team who advanced to this stage by winning the AFC Champions League qualifying match, Gamba with new members making their debut today struggled to string passes and create scoring chances against Johor’s well-organised defence.

Among the newcomers, defender MIURA Genta aggressively exploited the space behind the opposing right fullback using long balls from the beginning of the match. Furthermore, left fullback FUJIHARU Hiroki connected with midfielder KONNO Yasuyuki and midfielder KURATA Shu on the overlap and attempted to break the opponents’ defence.

In the 26th minute, the awaited opener came from those players attacking the left flank. After surging up the pitch, Kurata’s pass was deflected off the opposing defender and Konno reacted to the loose ball and sent in a cross from the left side. Forward ADEMILSON met this cross ball with a header to open the scoring for Gamba.

On the other hand, Johor DT altered the formation and increased the number of attacking forwards to two players. In the 28th minute, forward GONZALO CABRERA dribbled up the pitch and found midfielder AZAMMUDDIN AKIL, who barged into the penalty box. However, both Fujiharu and goalkeeper HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki led the tenacious defence and did not allow the opponents to take a shot on goal.

As later Kurata commented ‘we got over game jitters after Ademilson’s goal’, Gamba started to manage the game better and became quicker to react to the opponents’ move. In the 29th minute, after stealing the ball from the opponents, Gamba hit on the counter against the opposing team taking an attacking formation to equalise the match. Receiving the pass from Kurata, Fujiharu sent in a cross to forward NAGASAWA Shun who headed home to stretch their lead to 2-0.

Looking to qualify for the ACL group stage for the first time, Johor DT attempted to create their scoring chances from their key players, forward CABRERA, midfielder SAFIQ RAHIM and forward BRIAN FERREIRA. Then, in the 41st minute, FERREIRA surged up the pitch and attempted a shot on goal, only to be denied by the Japanese keeper Higashiguchi.

Entering the second half with a two-goal advantage, Gamba composedly managed the game and created their goal-scoring opportunities from the right flank. In the 68th minute, reacting to the cross ball from the right side, Fujiharu fired a shot and earned a corner kick for Gamba. Then, midfielder ENDO Yasuhito whipped in a brilliant ball off the corner and found Miura, who, in turn, found the net with a towering header scoring the third of the match and first-ever goal for Gamba after completing the transfer during this off-season.

Gamba continued to dominate the match while constantly looking out for the opponents’ counter-attacks. In the 81st minute, another newcomer and midfielder IZUMISAWA Jin came off the bench to substitute Endo and Gamba changed the formation to 4-4-2. In addition, midfielder DOAN Ritsu was subbed in replacing Ademilson in the 88th minute. The team continued to display their attacking football as Izumisawa send in a cross for Nagasawa in the additional time and Doan made a left-footed attempt a minute later. Gamba won the match 3-0 and Kurata was selected as the ‘Man of the Match’.

Before the kick-off a moment of silence was observed for the former JFA President OKANO Shunichiro who passed away last Thursday. 

In the group stage of the ACL starting in two weeks, Gamba Osaka in Group H will be placed in the same group as Adelaide United (Australia), Jiangsu Suning (China) and Jeju United (Korea). They will face Adelaide in their first group-stage match away from home on Wednesday 22.

Other teams qualified through the play-offs include Shanghai SIPG (China) placed in the same group as Urawa Reds and Ulsan Hyundai (Korea) joining Kashima Antlers in Group E, The final spot in Group E will be decided by the Shanghai Shenhua (China) – Brisbane Roar (Australia) match scheduled Wednesday 8.

Coaches' and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
I am relieved that we booked a place in the ACL. Since this was the first meeting between the two teams, we struggled initially but as we got used to the opponents we found our pace which led us to scoring the first goal. Adding the second in the first half was also significant. I have to praise the players for keeping their aggressive style of football from the beginning to the end without losing their focus despite being the pre-season match. I also have to thank our physical coach who created an excellent training program for the off-season and the players who realised the importance of this play-off match and worked hard during the winter break. Without their efforts, we couldn’t have come up with a win today. However, we made few minor errors and we need to work on them prior to the group-stage matches starting in two weeks, I am also hoping to create depth by increasing the internal competition within the team.

BENJAMIN MORA, Coach (Johor Darul Ta'zim)
I am satisfied with their efforts and their strong spirit they put in the game. We knew this would be a difficult match and I told my players ‘we need to stay resilient for the first 15 minutes and not allow the opponents to score’. However, we couldn’t cope well with the offensive dynamism of Gamba for the entire game and allowed them to attack from the flanks and capitalise on the cross balls from the sides. In the international competitions, we always have to pay a high price for our mistakes. But still I believe that the team improved and learned a lot from experiencing the high-level football today and advancing to the ACL play-off match. I hate to lose, but at the same time I can accept the loss as Gamba were an excellent team. We will be looking to come back here again.

MF KURATA Shu (Gamba Osaka)
As expected, it was a tough match. We were trying to bounce back from the disappointing season last year and I believe that this strong feeling led us to compete without losing our focus for the full 90 minutes and win the match. We are now looking to attain good results in the ACL and win the championship. Speaking about myself, I am not satisfied with my performance today as I haven’t scored or assisted a goal in the match. I need to keep my focus and work on the issues on hand.

MF ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
I simply wanted to win today. Now, I am relieved that we came up with a win. We had quite a few excellent plays and kept our focus and challenged the opponents at times. I am glad that we booked a place in the ACL. We are looking to avenge the disappointing result from the last championship by competing as a united team.

2017-1-24(Tue.)～2017-11-25(Sat.)
Tournament Information