Gamba Osaka drew 0-0 with Guangzhou Evergrande (China) in the second leg of their semifinal matches on 21 October at Expo'70 Commemorative Stadium. But Guangzhou advanced to the championships with an aggregate score 2-1. Gamba failed to make it to the final for the first time in seven years, since 2008, when they grabbed the title.

Gamba, who dropped the first-leg game 1-2 away and needed a win with two goals or more of a goal differential, played with composure from early, dominating the ball and connected passed around midfielders ENDO Yasuhito and FUTAGAWA Takahiro to look for scoring chances.

Futagawa launched a cross from the left side in the 4th minute, and midfielder ABE Hiroyuki took a shot capitalizing on a turn pass from defender FUJIHARU Hiroki in the 10th minute, but it was blocked by the Guangzhou goalkeeper. In the 18th minute, forward Patrick cut in from the left side into the box and fired a shot, but again the goalkeeper stopped it.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou could have earned the spot in the final with a draw, so they held themselves, not in an attacking mode but trying to look for scoring opportunities off counters and off Gamba's mistakes like interceptions.

Forward Elkeson in the 24th minute and forward and ex-Brazilian National Team player Richardo Goulart two minutes later had blazing shots, but Gamba goalkeeper HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki made great saves on both occasions.

Right after, Guangzhou intercepted a Gamba pass and had an attack, and in the 28th minute, midfielder Zheng ZHI and forward Elkeson fired shots. Elkeson created a decisive scoring change in the 43rd minute, but Higashiguchi, who was chosen the man of the match after the game, made a sharp reaction and save his goal.

Gamba attempted to threaten Guangzhou, but struggled to create out-numbering situations against them, who tried to defend the area close to their own goalmouth. Before the first half ended, midfielder KURATA Shu tried to put a cross from defender YONEKURA Koki, but the Guangzhou goalkeeper saved it.

In the second half, Gamba patiently connected passes to create chances against Guangzhou, who played defensively making blocks. Kurata and KONNO tried to put crosses from the left side into the goal in the 57th and 60th minutes, respectively, but they were stopped in both occasions.

Gamba then sent forward USAMI Takashi into the pitch and tried to create scoring opportunities from the left side again. Usami cut from the left side into the middle and had shots with his right foot in the 71st and 84th minutes, but they barely missed the goalmouth. Gamba dispatched midfielder OMORI Kotaro and forward NAGASAWA Shun from the bench, but weren't able to find a way to collapse the Guangzhou defence. The contest ended 0-0.

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The ACL championships will be played on 7 and 21 November. Guangzhou will look for their second-ever title against Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates, who clinched their first final berth by beating Saudi Arabia's AL Hilal in the semis.

Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
Disappointing for us to not post a win. Guangzhou defended their goal playing physically throughout the game, and I felt that they really were a team that had a lot of potential. I think that our loss away ended up affecting for the outcomes. We were forced to play a difficult second game, but our players were aware of their situation, played in spiritual ways and their transitions were really quick, and they showed scenes that they could've scored goals until the end. After all, we couldn't put the ball into the goal and it was just unlucky for us.

While we had few players that had won the ACL championship previously, I think it become a great treasure for those who came in afterward to have experienced such a great tournament. I think that they have grown and become tougher as they played games against teams of Korea, China and Thailand, so I hope them to take advantage of these opportunities to avenge this frustration with better preparation next time. We have been given great experiences, so it's made us to want to win the title even more.

We will need to switch our mind-set, advance to the J.League championship to be able to represent Japan again, and want to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup of the end of this year. 

MF  ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
It taught us how important it is for you to play away again. You can earn points at home, so when you try to win at away games, you'll have a better chance. While teams of other countries have developed their levels for sure, we want to give credit to ourselves that we've been able to challenge this far. But you have to be the champions to genuinely be a strong team, so that's something we lacked of this year. We would like to play spiritually like we did today in the remaining three games in the J. League, and aim at the championship to again earn the right to compete in the ACL.

GK  HIGASHIGUCHI Masaaki (Gamba Osaka)
We've been forced to play tough games from the beginning of the tournament, and managed to come up to the semifinals. Of course we wanted to go to the finals, but Guangzhou were a good team and we had tough times to find ways to beat them. Although I was chosen the Man of the Match, I wanted to be given this by winning.

FW  USAMI Takashi (Gamba Osaka)
I don't feel like we've lost. The opponents were a different team that they were when we played them away, and I have a bitter taste in my mouth. They came defensively, but we should still have scored. It was the title we wanted the most this year, but it's over. But we will just get all the titles remaining with our maximum effort. Whether they were things we were able to accomplish or things we came up short accomplishing, I would like to notch them in my head and move forward.

Luiz FELIPE SCOLARI (Guangzhou Evergrande)
It was a matchup between high quality teams, and we knew it was going to be a tough game. Against such a tough opponent like Gamba, we created at least four big chances. We are disappointed that we didn't capitalize on those for goals, but our opponents had a pair of opportunities, and we were able to meet our goal to advance to the finals. Gamba Osaka were the toughest opponents we've faced in this ACL so far, but our players, especially of China, did a great job.

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2015

Final
Sat. 11 November 2015, Sat. 21 November 2015
Al Ahli (UAE)  vs  Gangzhou Evergrande (CHN)

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