# 2021 Vissel Kobe season

The 2021 Vissel Kobe season was Vissel Kobe's eighth consecutive season in the J1 League following promotion to the top flight in 2013 and their 23rd J1 League season overall. In addition to the league, the club also competed in the Emperor's Cup and the J. League Cup.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 23 January 2021
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | JPN | Daiya Maekawa |
| 3 | DF | JPN | Hirofumi Watanabe |
| 4 | DF | BEL | Thomas Vermaelen |
| 5 | MF | JPN | Hotaru Yamaguchi (vice-captain) |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Sergi Samper |
| 8 | MF | ESP | Andrés Iniesta (captain) |
| 9 | FW | JPN | Noriaki Fujimoto |
| 10 | FW | BRA | Lincoln |
| 13 | FW | JPN | Keijiro Ogawa |
| 14 | MF | JPN | Takuya Yasui |
| 17 | DF | JPN | Ryuho Kikuchi |
| 18 | GK | JPN | Hiroki Iikura |
| 19 | DF | JPN | Ryo Hatsuse |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | FW | JPN | Junya Tanaka |
| 22 | DF | JPN | Daigo Nishi (vice-captain) |
| 23 | DF | JPN | Tetsushi Yamakawa |
| 24 | DF | JPN | Gōtoku Sakai |
| 25 | DF | JPN | Leo Osaki |
| 27 | MF | JPN | Yuta Goke |
| 28 | GK | JPN | Kenshin Yoshimaru |
| 30 | GK | JPN | Genta Ito |
| 31 | MF | JPN | Yuya Nakasaka |
| 33 | DF | BRA | Dankler |
| 38 | MF | JPN | Daiju Sasaki |
| 41 | FW | JPN | Yutaro Oda |
| 44 | DF | JPN | So Fujitani |
| 49 | FW | BRA | Douglas |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | JPN | Yuki Kobayashi (at Yokohama FC) |
| — | FW | JPN | Asahi Masuyama (at Avispa Fukuoka) |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale (C) | 38 | 28 | 8 | 2 | 81 | 28 | +53 | 92 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Yokohama F. Marinos | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 82 | 35 | +47 | 79 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Vissel Kobe | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 73 | Qualification for the AFC Champions League play-off round |
| 4 | Kashima Antlers | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 62 | 36 | +26 | 69 | |
| 5 | Nagoya Grampus | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 44 | 30 | +14 | 66 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 21 August 2021. Source: FBref

#### Results by matchday

| 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 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H |
| Result | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | W | D | D | D | W | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | | |
| Position | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | | |

#### Matches
### J.League Cup
#### Group stage

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | FC Tokyo | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 12 | Advanced to play-off stage |
| 2 | Vissel Kobe | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 8 | Advanced to play-off stage |
| 3 | Oita Trinita | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | |
| 4 | Tokushima Vortis | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 5 | |

#### Play-off stage
## Statistics
### Goal scorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | J1 League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 11 | FW | | Kyogo Furuhashi | 15 | 1 | 0 | 16 |
| 2 | 49 | FW | | Douglas | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| 3 | 5 | MF | | Hotaru Yamaguchi | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 | 17 | DF | | Ryuho Kikuchi | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 21 | MF | | Junya Tanaka | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | 31 | MF | | Yuya Nakasaka | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | 8 | MF | | Andrés Iniesta | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 27 | MF | | Yuta Goke | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | 40 | FW | | Ayub Masika | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | 3 | DF | | Yuki Kobayashi | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 4 | DF | | Thomas Vermaelen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 35 | MF | | Takuya Yasui | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 37 | MF | | Asahi Masuyama | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 35 | 5 | 9 | 49 |
Last updated: 21 July 2021

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Name | J1 League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Daiya Maekawa | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 | 18 | GK | | Hiroki Iikura | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 6 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
Last updated: 7 July 2021