# 2018 Kawasaki Frontale season

The 2018 Kawasaki Frontale season was their 14th consecutive season in J1 League, they were defending champions after finishing top of the 2017 J1 League. They also competed in the J.League Cup, Emperor's Cup, and AFC Champions League.

## Squad

As of 22 January 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 | KOR | Jung Sung-ryong |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Kyohei Noborizato |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Tatsuki Nara |
| 4 | FW | JPN | Yoshito Okubo |
| 5 | MF | JPN | Shogo Taniguchi |
| 6 | MF | JPN | Yusuke Tasaka |
| 7 | DF | JPN | Shintaro Kurumaya |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Hiroyuki Abe |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Shuhei Akasaki |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Ryota Oshima |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Yu Kobayashi (captain) |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Kengo Nakamura |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Tatsuya Hasegawa |
| 17 | DF | JPN | Yuto Takeoka |
| 18 | DF | BRA | Elsinho |
| 19 | MF | JPN | Kentaro Moriya |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 20 | FW | JPN | Kei Chinen |
| 21 | MF | BRA | Eduardo Neto |
| 22 | MF | JPN | Hokuto Shimoda |
| 23 | DF | BRA | Eduardo Bendini |
| 24 | GK | JPN | Shunsuke Ando |
| 25 | MF | JPN | Hidemasa Morita |
| 26 | DF | PHI | Jefferson Tabinas |
| 27 | FW | JPN | Yuto Suzuki |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Yasuto Wakizaka |
| 29 | DF | JPN | Michael Fitzgerald |
| 30 | GK | JPN | Shota Arai |
| 31 | GK | JPN | William Popp |
| 32 | MF | JPN | Ao Tanaka |
| 33 | MF | JPN | Taisei Miyashiro |
| 37 | MF | JPN | Manabu Saito |
| 41 | MF | JPN | Akihiro Ienaga |

### 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 |
| — | DF | JPN | Ko Itakura (at Vegalta Sendai) |
| — | MF | JPN | Koji Miyoshi (at Consadole Sapporo) |

## Competitions
### J1 League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale (C) | 34 | 21 | 6 | 7 | 57 | 27 | +30 | 69 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 47 | 35 | +12 | 57 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 3 | Kashima Antlers | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 50 | 39 | +11 | 56 | Qualification for the Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 55 | |
| 5 | Urawa Red Diamonds | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 39 | +12 | 51 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
* ↑ Urawa Red Diamonds qualified for the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage as 2018 Emperor's Cup winners.

### AFC Champions League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | SSI | ULS | MEL | KAW |
| 1 | Shanghai SIPG | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 11 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 2–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 |
| 2 | Ulsan Hyundai | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 11 | +4 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage | 0–1 | — | 6–2 | 2–1 |
| 3 | Melbourne Victory | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 8 | | 2–1 | 3–3 | — | 1–0 |
| 4 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −3 | 3 | | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | — |