# 2021 Kawasaki Frontale season

The 2021 season was Kawasaki Frontale's 17th consecutive season in the J1 League, where they lifted the title for the fourth time in five years. They also competed in the AFC Champions League, Emperor's Cup, J.League Cup, and the Japanese Super Cup.

## Squad

As of 1 July 2021.

### First-team squad

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 | KOR | Jung Sung-ryong |
| 2 | DF | JPN | Kyohei Noborizato (vice-captain) |
| 3 | MF | JPN | Koki Tsukagawa |
| 4 | DF | BRA | Jesiel |
| 5 | MF | JPN | Shogo Taniguchi (captain) |
| 6 | MF | BRA | João Schmidt |
| 7 | DF | JPN | Shintaro Kurumaya |
| 8 | MF | JPN | Yasuto Wakizaka (vice-captain) |
| 9 | FW | BRA | Leandro Damião (vice-captain) |
| 10 | MF | JPN | Ryota Oshima |
| 11 | FW | JPN | Yu Kobayashi |
| 13 | DF | JPN | Miki Yamane |
| 15 | DF | JPN | Zain Issaka |
| 16 | MF | JPN | Tatsuya Hasegawa |
| 17 | MF | JPN | Kazuki Kozuka |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 19 | FW | JPN | Daiya Tono |
| 20 | FW | JPN | Kei Chinen |
| 21 | GK | JPN | Shunsuke Ando |
| 22 | MF | JPN | Kento Tachibanada |
| 23 | FW | BRA | Marcinho |
| 24 | FW | JPN | Ten Miyagi |
| 26 | DF | JPN | Kaito Kamiya |
| 27 | GK | JPN | Kenta Tanno |
| 28 | MF | JPN | Kazuya Yamamura |
| 30 | DF | JPN | Shuto Tanabe |
| 31 | MF | JPN | Renji Matsui |
| 32 | GK | JPN | Yuki Hayasaka |
| 33 | FW | JPN | Taiyo Igarashi |
| 34 | DF | JPN | Kota Takai |
| 40 | GK | KOR | Lee Kyung-tae [ja] |
| 41 | MF | JPN | Akihiro Ienaga |
| 47 | FW | JPN | Reo Hatate |

### 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 |
| — | FW | JPN | Taisei Miyashiro (at Tokushima Vortis until 31 January 2022) |
| — | MF | JPN | Koki Harada (at Gainare Tottori until 31 January 2022) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | BRA | Maguinho (at Yokohama FC until 1 Jan 2022) |
| — | MF | JPN | Ao Tanaka (at Fortuna Düsseldorf until 30 June 2022) |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date | Position | Player | From | Type |
| 1 Feb 2021 | DF | Shuto Tanabe | Shizuoka Gakuen High School | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Kento Tachibanada | Toin University | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | FW | Ten Miyagi | Kataller Toyama | Loan return |
| 1 Feb 2021 | FW | Kei Chinen | Oita Trinita | Loan return |
| 1 Feb 2021 | FW | Daiya Tono | Avispa Fukuoka | Loan return |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Koki Tsukagawa | Matsumoto Yamaga FC | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Kazuki Kozuka | Oita Trinita | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Lee Kyung-tae | Fagiano Okayama | Loan extension |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | João Schmidt | Nagoya Grampus | Full |
| 26 Feb 2021 | MF | Renji Matsui | Hosei University | Special Designated Player |
| 30 Apr 2021 | MF | Yuki Hayasaka | Toin University of Yokohama | Special Designated Player |
| 13 Aug 2021 | FW | Marcinho | Chongqing Liangjiang | Full |
| 27 Aug 2021 | DF | Kota Takai | Kawasaki Frontale U-18 | Full |
| 27 Aug 2021 | FW | Taiyo Igarashi | Kawasaki Frontale U-18 | Full |

### Transfers out

| Date | Position | Player | To | Type |
| 1 Jan 2021 | MF | Kengo Nakamura | | Retired |
| 1 Feb 2021 | DF | Kazuaki Mawatari | Omiya Ardija | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | GK | William Popp | Oita Trinita | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | DF | Maguinho | Yokohama FC | Loan |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Yuto Suzuki | Júbilo Iwata | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | DF | Diogo Mateus | Ferroviária | Loan return |
| 1 Feb 2021 | MF | Hokuto Shimoda | Oita Trinita | Full |
| 1 Feb 2021 | DF | Jefferson Tabinas | Mito HollyHock | Full |
| 7 Jan 2021 | MF | Hidemasa Morita | Santa Clara | Full |
| 8 Jan 2021 | FW | Taisei Miyashiro | Tokushima Vortis | Loan |
| 8 Jan 2021 | MF | Koki Harada | Gainare Tottori | Loan |
| 9 Jan 2021 | MF | Manabu Saito | Nagoya Grampus | Full |
| 9 Jan 2021 | MF | Caio César | V-Varen Nagasaki | Full |
| 1 Jul 2021 | MF | Ao Tanaka | Fortuna Düsseldorf | Loan |
| 10 Aug 2021 | MF | Kaoru Mitoma | Brighton and Hove Albion | Full |

## Competitions
### J1 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 |
Source: see below

#### 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 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | D |
| Position | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

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

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | KAW | DAE | UNI | BJG |
| 1 | Kawasaki Frontale | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | +24 | 18 | Round of 16 | — | 3–2 | 8–0 | 4–0 |
| 2 | Daegu FC | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 22 | 6 | +16 | 12 | Round of 16 | 1–3 | — | 7–0 | 5–0 |
| 3 | United City | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 24 | −20 | 4 | | 0–2 | 0–4 | — | 1–1 |
| 4 | Beijing Guoan | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 23 | −20 | 1 | | 0–7 | 0–3 | 2–3 | — |

#### Matches
## Honors
### Individual

* J.League MVP: Leandro Damião
* J.League Best XI: Miki Yamane, Shogo Taniguchi, Jesiel, Yasuto Wakizaka, Akihiro Ienaga, Reo Hatate, Leandro Damião
* J1 League Fair Play Award: Miki Yamane

## Statistics
### Goal scorers

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Player | J.League | AFC Champions League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Japanese Super Cup | Total |
| 1 | 9 | FW | Leandro Damião | 23 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 |
| 2 | 18 | FW | Kaoru Mitoma | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 | 11 | FW | Yu Kobayashi | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| 4 | 41 | MF | Akihiro Ienaga | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | 20 | FW | Kei Chinen | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | 19 | FW | Daiya Tono | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | 8 | FW | Yasuto Wakizaka | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | 47 | FW | Reo Hatate | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 8 | 22 | MF | Kento Tachibanada | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | 28 | MF | Kazuya Yamamura | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | 24 | FW | Ten Miyagi | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | 13 | DF | Miki Yamane | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 16 | MF | Tatsuya Hasegawa | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 6 | MF | João Schmidt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 10 | MF | Ryota Oshima | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | 4 | DF | Jesiel | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 | 17 | MF | Kazuki Kozuka | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 25 | MF | Ao Tanaka | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 7 | DF | Shintaro Kurumaya | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 23 | FW | Marcinho | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 78 | 26 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 118 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos. | Player | J.League | AFC Champions League | Emperor's Cup | J.League Cup | Japanese Super Cup | Total |
| 1 | 1 | GK | Jung Sung-ryong | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| 2 | 27 | GK | Kenta Tanno | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 |