# 2021 Gamba Osaka season

The 2021 Gamba Osaka season was the club's 41st season in existence and the eighth consecutive season in the top flight of Japanese football. In addition to the domestic league, Gamba Osaka participated in the Emperor's Cup, the J.League Cup, the AFC Champions League and the Japanese Super Cup.

## Background

After finishing runners-up in both the league and the Emperor's Cup in 2020, Gamba Osaka started the season competing in the Japanese Super Cup but narrowly lost to stoppage time winning goal. Their league campaign was then heavily disrupted by an outbreak of COVID-19 in the squad. After losing their first league game of the season on 27 February, they did not play another game until 4 April. They started the league campaign extremely poorly, winning only one of their first ten games and only scoring three goals in the process. This run led to the dismissal of manager Tsuneyasu Miyamoto following their 2–1 home defeat to Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Head of the academy Masanobu Matsunami took over on an interim basis, until in June it was announced he would be taking over the managerial role for the remainder of the season. In spite of being in the relegation places for the first half of the season and being one of the league's lowest scorers, Gamba managed to string some results together in the second half of the season and finished in 13th place, eight points clear of relegation.
Gamba did fare slightly better in the cup competitions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Emperor's Cup before a home defeat to Urawa Red Diamonds. They also reached the quarter-finals of the J.League Cup, but this was the round they entered the competition at due to their commitments in the AFC Champions League.
Competing in the continental competition for the first time since 2017, Gamba went out at the group stage despite only losing one game out of their six matches. This included an 8–1 victory over Singapore's Tampines Rovers.
Patric was the stand-out performer for Gamba throughout the season, scoring 23 goals in all competitions, 38% of all goals that they scored. He finished joint 5th in the overall league scoring charts.

## Players
### Season squad

| Squad no. | Name | Date of birth (age at start of season) |
| Goalkeepers ||||
| 1 | Masaaki Higashiguchi | (1986-05-12)12 May 1986 (aged 34) |
| 22 | Jun Ichimori | (1991-07-02)2 July 1991 (aged 29) |
| 23 | Mizuki Hayashi | (1996-09-04)4 September 1996 (aged 24) |
| 25 | Kei Ishikawa | (1992-09-30)30 September 1992 (aged 28) |
| 31 | Taichi Kato | (1997-04-14)14 April 1997 (aged 23) |
| Defenders ||||
| 3 | Gen Shoji | (1992-12-11)11 December 1992 (aged 28) |
| 4 | Hiroki Fujiharu | (1988-11-24)24 November 1988 (aged 32) |
| 5 | Genta Miura | (1995-03-01)1 March 1995 (aged 25) |
| 13 | Shunya Suganuma | (1990-05-17)17 May 1990 (aged 30) |
| 16 | Yota Sato | (1998-09-10)10 September 1998 (aged 22) |
| 19 | Kim Young-gwon | (1990-02-27)27 February 1990 (aged 31) |
| 24 | Keisuke Kurokawa | (1997-04-13)13 April 1997 (aged 23) |
| 26 | Ko Yanagisawa | (1996-06-28)28 June 1996 (aged 24) |
| 27 | Ryu Takao | (1996-11-09)9 November 1996 (aged 24) |
| 40 | Shin Won-ho | (2001-05-19)19 May 2001 (aged 19) |
| Midfielders ||||
| 6 | Ju Se-jong | (1990-10-30)30 October 1990 (aged 30) |
| 8 | Kosuke Onose | (1993-04-22)22 April 1993 (aged 27) |
| 10 | Shu Kurata | (1988-11-26)26 November 1988 (aged 32) |
| 14 | Yuya Fukuda | (1999-04-04)4 April 1999 (aged 21) |
| 15 | Yosuke Ideguchi | (1996-08-23)23 August 1996 (aged 24) |
| 17 | Kohei Okuno | (2000-04-03)3 April 2000 (aged 20) |
| 21 | Shinya Yajima | (1994-01-18)18 January 1994 (aged 27) |
| 29 | Yuki Yamamoto | (1997-11-06)6 November 1997 (aged 23) |
| 39 | Takashi Usami | (1992-05-06)6 May 1992 (aged 28) |
| 41 | Jiro Nakamura | (2003-08-22)22 August 2003 (aged 17) |
| Forwards ||||
| 9 | Leandro Pereira | (1991-07-13)13 July 1991 (aged 29) |
| 11 | Yuji Ono | (1992-12-22)22 December 1992 (aged 28) |
| 18 | Patric | (1987-10-26)26 October 1987 (aged 33) |
| 20 | Kazunari Ichimi | (1997-11-10)10 November 1997 (aged 23) |
| 28 | Wellington Silva | (1993-01-06)6 January 1993 (aged 28) |
| 30 | Dai Tsukamoto | (2001-06-23)23 June 2001 (aged 19) |
| 32 | Tiago Alves | (1993-01-12)12 January 1993 (aged 28) |
| 33 | Haruto Shirai | (1999-10-23)23 October 1999 (aged 21) |
| 34 | Shuhei Kawasaki | (2001-04-28)28 April 2001 (aged 19) |
| 37 | Hiroto Yamami | (1998-08-16)16 August 1998 (aged 22) |
Last updated: End of 2021 season. Source: Soccer-DB

## Transfers
### Arrivals

| Date | Position | Player | From | Type |
| 21 December 2020 | DF | Yota Sato | Meiji University | Full |
| 4 January 2021 | GK | Mizuki Hayashi | Renofa Yamaguchi | Return from loan |
| 4 January 2021 | FW | Kazunari Ichimi | Yokohama FC | Return from loan |
| 6 January 2021 | MF | Ju Se-jong | FC Seoul | Full |
| 22 January 2021 | FW | Leandro Pereira | Matsumoto Yamaga | Full |
| 23 January 2021 | FW | Tiago Alves | Sagan Tosu | Full |
| 24 March 2021 | GK | Taichi Kato | Ehime FC | Loan |
| 25 March 2021 | FW | Wellington Silva | Fluminense | Full |
| 26 July 2021 | DF | Ko Yanagisawa | Mito Hollyhock | Full |

### Departures

| Date | Position | Player | To | Type |
| 5 October 2020 | MF | Yasuhito Endo | Júbilo Iwata | Loan |
| 28 December 2020 | FW | Ademilson | | Contract terminated |
| 4 January 2021 | GK | Kosei Tani | Shonan Bellmare | Loan extension |
| 4 January 2021 | MF | Takahiro Ko | Albirex Niigata | Full |
| 4 January 2021 | FW | Kazuma Watanabe | Yokohama FC | Full |
| 4 January 2021 | FW | Daisuke Takagi | Renofa Yamaguchi | Full |
| 5 January 2021 | MF | Mizuki Ichimaru | FC Ryukyu | Full |
| 6 January 2021 | DF | Riku Matsuda | Zweigen Kanazawa | Full |
| 6 January 2021 | DF | Tatsuya Yamaguchi | Tokyo Verdy | Full |
| 7 January 2021 | DF | Ryo Shinzato | V-Varen Nagasaki | End of loan |
| 7 January 2021 | FW | Akito Takagi | Thespakusatsu Gunma | Full |
| 8 January 2021 | MF | Ren Shibamoto | SC Sagamihara | Loan |
| 9 January 2021 | MF | Leo Takae | Machida Zelvia | Full |
| 8 February 2021 | FW | Keito Nakamura | FC Juniors OÖ | Loan |
| 27 April 2021 | FW | Shoji Toyama | Ehime FC | Loan |
| 11 August 2021 | FW | Kazunari Ichimi | Tokushima Vortis | Full |
| 11 August 2021 | FW | Keito Nakamura | LASK | Full |
| 10 September 2021 | FW | Shuhei Kawasaki | Portimonense | Full |

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| J1 League | 27 February 2021 | 4 December 2021 | Matchday 1 | 13th place | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 031.58 |
| Emperor's Cup | 16 June 2021 | 27 October 2021 | Second round | Quarter-finals | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 4 | +5 | 075.00 |
| J.League Cup | 1 September 2021 | 4 September 2021 | Quarter-finals | Quarter-finals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | −3 | 050.00 |
| AFC Champions League | 25 June 2021 | 10 July 2021 | Group stage | Group stage | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 033.33 |
| Japanese Super Cup | 20 February 2021 | 20 February 2021 | Final | Runners-up | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 51 | 18 | 11 | 22 | 60 | 67 | −7 | 035.29 |
Source: Soccerway

### J1 League
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 11 | Sanfrecce Hiroshima | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 44 | 42 | +2 | 49 |
| 12 | Cerezo Osaka | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 48 |
| 13 | Gamba Osaka | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 33 | 49 | −16 | 44 |
| 14 | Shimizu S-Pulse | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 37 | 54 | −17 | 42 |
| 15 | Kashiwa Reysol | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 37 | 56 | −19 | 41 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: J.League Data Site

#### 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 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | D | D | L | W | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | W | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | D | W | W | W | L | L | D |
| Position | 16 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |

#### Matches

Due to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the team after the first league game, Gamba did not play another game until the seventh game week.

### J.League Cup

Due to their involvement in the 2021 AFC Champions League, Gamba received a bye for the group and playoff stages of the competition. However, they were knocked out at their first hurdle, the quarter-final stage, by Osaka rivals Cerezo Osaka.

#### Quarter-finals

Cerezo Osaka won 4–1 on aggregate.

### AFC Champions League
#### Group stage

Gamba Osaka were drawn into Group H, alongside two-time winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of South Korea, Tampines Rovers of Singapore and Australia's Sydney FC. In June 2021, it was announced that all Australian teams would not be participating in the 2021 AFC Champions League due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Sydney FC were replaced in Group H by Thailand's Chiangrai United.
The games in Group H all took place in Tashkent, Uzbekistan between 25 June and 10 July. All matches were played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Uzbekistan.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 5 | +17 | 16 | Advance to Round of 16 |
| 2 | Gamba Osaka | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 7 | +8 | 9 | |
| 3 | Chiangrai United | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 7 | +1 | 8 | |
| 4 | Tampines Rovers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 27 | −26 | 0 | |

### Japanese Super Cup
## Statistics
### Appearances

| No. | Name | J1 League | J1 League | Emperor's Cup | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | J.League Cup | AFC CL | AFC CL | Super Cup | Super Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Masaaki Higashiguchi | 38 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| 25 | Kei Ishikawa | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||
| 3 | Gen Shoji | 26+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 4 | Hiroki Fujiharu | 16+3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 5 | Genta Miura | 25+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| 13 | Shunya Suganuma | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| 16 | Yota Sato | 7+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| 19 | Kim Young-gwon | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| 24 | Keisuke Kurokawa | 15+4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| 26 | Ko Yanagisawa | 7+8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| 27 | Ryu Takao | 11+8 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 40 | Shin Won-ho | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ju Se-jong | 12+10 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| 8 | Kosuke Onose | 22+9 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 | 1+1 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| 10 | Shu Kurata | 26+11 | 1 | 0+3 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 3+3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| 14 | Yuya Fukuda | 8+6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| 15 | Yosuke Ideguchi | 24+5 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| 17 | Kohei Okuno | 16+10 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 21 | Shinya Yajima | 17+9 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 34 | 3 |
| 29 | Yuki Yamamoto | 20+8 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 39 | Takashi Usami | 28+10 | 6 | 2+2 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 6 |
| 41 | Jiro Nakamura | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||
| 9 | Leandro Pereira | 15+9 | 5 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 2+4 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 | 34 | 7 |
| 11 | Yuji Ono | 2+5 | 1 | 1+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| 18 | Patric | 22+11 | 13 | 2+1 | 3 | 1+1 | 0 | 3+3 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 23 |
| 20 | Kazunari Ichimi | 6+12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+2 | 1 | 0+1 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
| 28 | Wellington Silva | 8+13 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1+4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| 30 | Dai Tsukamoto | 4+4 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| 32 | Tiago Alves | 6+11 | 2 | 2+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 33 | Haruto Shirai | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | Shuhei Kawasaki | 1+2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2+1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 37 | Hiroto Yamami | 0+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 |
| Players loaned or transferred out during the season ||||||||||||||
| 7 | Juan Alano | 5+7 | 1 | 2+1 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 18 | Ayase Ueda | 17+1 | 10 | 0+1 | 1 | 2+2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 14 |
| 19 | Itsuki Someno | 0+12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2+6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 4 |
Last updated: 12 June 2023. Source: jleague.co, Soccer D.B.

### Goalscorers

The list is sorted by shirt number when total goals are equal.
| Rnk | Pos | No. | Player | J1 | EC | JLC | AFC | JSC | Total |
| 1 | FW | 18 | Patric | 13 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 23 |
| 2 | FW | 9 | Leandro Pereira | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | MF | 39 | Takashi Usami | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | MF | 10 | Shu Kurata | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | MF | 21 | Shinya Yajima | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 | FW | 28 | Wellington Silva | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | FW | 34 | Shuhei Kawasaki | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | 20 | Kazunari Ichimi | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | FW | 32 | Tiago Alves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | FW | 37 | Hiroto Yamami | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | 8 | Kosuke Onose | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | 11 | Yuji Ono | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | 13 | Shunya Suganuma | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | MF | 15 | Yosuke Ideguchi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | DF | 26 | Ko Yanagisawa | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | – | – | Own goal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 33 | 9 | 1 | 15 | 2 | 60 |
Last updated: 13 June 2023. Source: jleague.co, besoccer.com

### Clean sheets

The list is sorted by shirt number when total clean sheets are equal.
| Rnk | No. | Player | J1 | EC | JLC | AFC | JSC | Total |
| 1 | 1 | Masaaki Higashiguchi | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 2 | 25 | Kei Ishikawa | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
Last updated: 13 June 2023. Source: fbref.com