# 2018 Vissel Kobe season

The 2018 Vissel Kobe season was Vissel Kobe's fifth season back in the J1 League following their promotion in 2013 and their 20th J1 League season. They also competed in the 2018 Emperor's Cup and the 2018 J.League Cup.

## Squad

    As of 14 August 2018.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Daiya Maekawa |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Daisuke Nasu |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Hirofumi Watanabe |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Kunie Kitamoto |
| 5 | DF | QAT | Ahmed Yasser (on loan from Al-Duhail) |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Shunki Takahashi |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Hirotaka Mita |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Andrés Iniesta |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Podolski (Captain) |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Naoyuki Fujita |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Daiki Miya |
| 16 | FW | JPN | Kyogo Furuhashi |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Wellington |
| 18 | GK | KOR | Kim Seung-gyu |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | MF | JPN | Asahi Masuyama |
| 21 | FW | JPN | Junya Tanaka |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Wataru Hashimoto |
| 23 | MF | JPN | Yoshiki Matsushita |
| 24 | MF | JPN | Masatoshi Mihara |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Leo Osaki |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Yuta Goke |
| 29 | GK | JPN | Kota Ogi |
| 30 | DF | THA | Theerathon Bunmathan (on loan from Muangthong United) |
| 33 | FW | JPN | Shuhei Otsuki |
| 34 | DF | JPN | So Fujitani |
| 35 | MF | JPN | Takuya Yasui |
| 39 | DF | JPN | Masahiko Inoha |
| 40 | DF | JPN | Yuki Kobayashi |
| 50 | FW | JPN | Shun Nagasawa |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | JPN | Kenshin Yoshimaru (at Tokushima Vortis) |
| — | DF | JPN | Junya Higashi (at Fukushima United) |
| — | DF | JPN | Shinji Yamaguchi (at Oita Trinita) |
| — | MF | JPN | Seigo Kobayashi (at Montedio Yamagata) |
| — | MF | JPN | Ryosuke Maeda (at Oita Trinita) |
| — | MF | JPN | Yuya Nakasaka (at Peralada-Girona B) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | BRA | Wescley (at Ceará) |
| — | FW | JPN | Daiju Sasaki (at Palmeiras) |
| — | FW | JPN | Akito Mukai (at MIO Biwako) |
| — | FW | JPN | Keijiro Ogawa (at Shonan Bellmare) |
| — | FW | JPN | Mike Havenaar (at Vegalta Sendai) |

## Transfers
### Winter

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Daisuke Nasu (from Urawa Red Diamonds) |
| 5 | MF | KOR | Jung Woo-young (from Chongqing Lifan) |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Hirotaka Mita (from Vegalta Sendai) |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Daiki Miya (from Biwako Seikei Sport College) |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Wellington (from Avispa Fukuoka) |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Yuta Goke (from Aomori Yamada High School) |
| 29 | GK | JPN | Kota Ogi (from Nagoya Grampus) |
| 30 | DF | THA | Theerathon Bunmathan (on loan from Muangthong United) |
| 36 | FW | JPN | Tatsuki Noda (from FC Imabari, end of loan) |
| 38 | FW | JPN | Daiji Sasaki (promoted from youth ranks) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | DF | JPN | Takuya Iwanami (to Urawa Red Diamonds) |
| 7 | MF | BRA | Nílton (to EC Bahia) |
| 8 | MF | BRA | Wescley (on loan to Ceará) |
| 15 | MF | JPN | Seigo Kobayashi (on loan to Montedio Yamagata) |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Hideto Takahashi (to Sagan Tosu) |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Hideo Tanaka (to Tegevajaro Miyazaki) |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Junya Higashi (on loan to Fukushima United FC) |
| 26 | DF | JPN | Shinji Yamaguchi (on loan to Oita Trinita) |
| 29 | MF | JPN | Kotaro Omori (to FC Tokyo) |
| 30 | GK | JPN | Kenta Tokushige (to V-Varen Nagasaki) |
| — | MF | JPN | Ryo Matsumura (to Nagano Parceiro) |
| — | FW | JPN | Akito Mukai (on loan to MIO Biwako Shiga) |

### Summer

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | DF | QAT | Ahmed Yasser (on loan from Al-Duhail SC) |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Andrés Iniesta (from Barcelona) |
| 16 | FW | JPN | Kyogo Furuhashi (from FC Gifu) |
| 20 | FW | JPN | Shun Nagasawa (on loan from Gamba Osaka) |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Leo Osaki (from Tokushima Vortis) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 5 | MF | KOR | Jung Woo-young (to Al-Sadd) |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Mike Havenaar (on loan to Vegalta Sendai) |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Leandro (to Tokyo Verdy) |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Keijiro Ogawa (on loan to Shonan Bellmare) |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Kazuma Watanabe (to Gamba Osaka) |
| 28 | GK | JPN | Kenshin Yoshimaru (on loan to Tokushima Vortis) |
| 31 | MF | JPN | Yuya Nakasaka (on loan to CF Peralada-Girona B) |
| 36 | MF | JPN | Tatsuki Noda (on loan to Kataller Toyama) |
| 38 | MF | JPN | Daiju Sasaki (on loan to Palmeiras) |

## Competitions
### J. League
#### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 8 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 56 | 48 | +8 | 49 |
| 9 | Gamba Osaka | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 46 | −5 | 48 |
| 10 | Vissel Kobe | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 45 |
| 11 | Vegalta Sendai | 34 | 13 | 6 | 15 | 44 | 54 | −10 | 45 |
| 12 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 41 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 26 August 2018. Source: see below

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | |
| Result | D | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | L | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | |
| Position | 6 | 15 | 14 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 10 |

#### Results
### Emperor's Cup
## Squad statistics

    As of match played 26 August 2018

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | J-League | J-League | J-League Cup | J-League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Daiki Maekawa | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Daisuke Nasu | 12 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Hirofumi Watanabe | 27 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | JPN | Kunie Kitamoto | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | QAT | Ahmed Yasser | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | JPN | Shunki Takahashi | 15 | 0 | 8+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | JPN | Hirotaka Mita | 27 | 7 | 20+2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Andrés Iniesta | 7 | 2 | 5+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | GER | Lukas Podolski | 17 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Naoyuki Fujita | 26 | 2 | 18+2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Daiki Miya | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | JPN | Kyogo Furuhashi | 4 | 1 | 3+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | BRA | Wellington | 28 | 11 | 10+9 | 5 | 5+1 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 18 | GK | KOR | Kim Seung-gyu | 26 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | JPN | Asahi Masuyama | 12 | 2 | 5+2 | 1 | 2+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | JPN | Junya Tanaka | 21 | 2 | 10+7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Wataru Hashimoto | 13 | 0 | 8+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | JPN | Yoshiki Matsushita | 12 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | JPN | Masatoshi Mihara | 23 | 2 | 12+4 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Leo Osaki | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Yuta Goke | 25 | 2 | 13+4 | 1 | 5+1 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | THA | Theerathon Bunmathan | 27 | 0 | 16+4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | FW | JPN | Shuhei Otsuki | 22 | 3 | 13+3 | 1 | 1+2 | 1 | 2+1 | 1 |
| 34 | DF | JPN | So Fujitani | 10 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | JPN | Takuya Yasui | 10 | 1 | 2+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 39 | DF | JPN | Masahiko Inoha | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | DF | JPN | Yuki Kobayashi | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | FW | JPN | Shun Nagasawa | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players away on loan: ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | JPN | Mike Havenaar | 9 | 2 | 3+1 | 1 | 2+3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Keijiro Ogawa | 12 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | GK | JPN | Kenshin Yoshimaru | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | MF | JPN | Yuya Nakasaka | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 36 | MF | JPN | Tatsuki Noda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | FW | JPN | Daiju Sasaki | 10 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2+2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who left Vissel Kobe during the season: ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | KOR | Jung Woo-young | 12 | 2 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Leandro | 3 | 1 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Kazuma Watanabe | 26 | 7 | 10+9 | 4 | 4+1 | 3 | 2 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Number | Name | J-League | J-League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | 17 | Wellington | 5 | 3 | 3 | 11 |
| 2 | FW | 19 | Kazuma Watanabe | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | MF | 8 | Hirotaka Mita | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | FW | 10 | Lukas Podolski | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | FW | 33 | Shuhei Otsuki | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | FW | 21 | Junya Tanaka | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 5 | Jung Woo-young | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 8 | Andrés Iniesta | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | FW | 38 | Daiju Sasaki | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | FW | 9 | Mike Havenaar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 14 | Naoyuki Fujita | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 20 | Asahi Masuyama | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 27 | Yuta Goke | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | MF | 24 | Masatoshi Mihara | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | | | Own goal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | FW | 16 | Kyogo Furuhashi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | FW | 11 | Leandro | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | MF | 35 | Takuya Yasui | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 31 | 16 | 9 | 56 |

### Disciplinary record

| Number | Position | Name | J-League | J-League | J. League Cup | J. League Cup | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Daiki Maekawa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | Daisuke Nasu | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | Hirofumi Watanabe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | Kunie Kitamoto | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 | DF | Shunki Takahashi | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 7 | MF | Hirotaka Mita | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | Lukas Podolski | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 14 | MF | Naoyuki Fujita | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | Daiki Miya | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | Kyogo Furuhashi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | Wellington | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 18 | GK | Kim Seung-gyu | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | FW | Junya Tanaka | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 22 | DF | Wataru Hashimoto | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 23 | MF | Yoshiki Matsushita | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | MF | Masatoshi Mihara | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | DF | Leo Osaki | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | Yuta Goke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | DF | Theerathon Bunmathan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 35 | MF | Takuya Yasui | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Players away on loan: ||||||||||||
| 9 | FW | Mike Havenaar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Players who left Vissel Kobe during the season: ||||||||||||
| 5 | MF | Jung Woo-young | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 41 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 57 | 1 |