The group stage matches of the AFC Champions League 2015 kick off on Tuesday 24 February. Japan has last year’s J1 League and Emperor’s Cup champions Gamba Osaka, J1’s runners-up Urawa Reds, its third-ranked Kashima Antlers and Kashiwa Reysol, finishing the league at fourth and clinching the ACL berth by winning the play-off match, compete for the championship in Asia.

Gamba Osaka, who won the ACL title in 2008, are in Group F with Korea Republic’s FA Cup champions Seongnam FC, Thailand’s League champions Buriram United and Chinese Super League’s third-ranked Guangzhou R&F, as they first welcome Guangzhou R&F at home on 24th.

Under supervision by the former Romanian national team head coach Cosmin Contra, Guangzhou R&F list Korea Republic internationals defender Jang Hyun Soo and midfielder Park Jong Woo and China’s national team defender Jiang Zhipeng on their roster. Although the Chinese league hasn’t their season started yet, the club are already in match-shape by playing two matches at the ACL Play-off. The first-time ACL participants can never be underestimated as they defeated Australia’s Central Coast Mariners in Australia at the third round of the play-off.

Meanwhile, Gamba are about to start the third year with Hasegawa Kenta as their head coach, and the players are well aware of the coach’s strategy. Although Japanese international midfielder Konno Yasuyuki needs more time to be back from his injury, another international midfielder Endo Yasuhito are in form. Their attacking side of Usami Takashi and Patric has been strengthened further with new additions of forward Akamine Shingo and midfielder Ogura Shohei

Usami expresses his confidence saying “it’s important to stick to our game plan even against teams in other countries of Asia. We have our own unique strength. The key is to play Gamba’s football.

Kashima to take on defending champs

Kashima Antlers in Group H will make their sixth appearance in the ACL when they begin their matches at home against the last year’s champions Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia.

Australian national team just won the Asian Cup in this January and the team’s forward Tomi Juric and defender Matthew Spiranovic play for Western Sydney. They recently acquired midfielder Takahagi Yojiro from Hiroshima and defender Tanaka Yusuke from Kawasaki Frontale as well.
Currently in A League, the club are struggling at tenth place after 16 matches, but it is easily expected that the team’s fitness level is high right during their season and they will be difficult for Kashima to handle, who will just play the first official match of the year.

Kashima made their own offseason addition when they welcomed Korean Republic international Hwang Seokho from Hiroshima. Their young players have improved well as Shibasaki Gaku has shown his presence even on Japan National Team and defenders Shoji Gen and Ueda Naomichi also made their own appearances on the Japan’s team for the Asian Cup.

Other opponents for Kashima in the group are the champions of Chinese Super League and the 2013 ACL, Guangzhou Evergrande, and the third-ranked club in the Korea’s K League FC Seoul, who at the 2013 ACL started their journey from the play-off and kept winning matches until losing to Guangzhou Evergrande just in the final match.

Kashiwa and Urawa to start their first match away from home

Kashiwa Reysol, having just finished their tough match on 17 this month against Chonburi FC of Thailand with a 3-2 extra-time win, will face Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in Korea Republic on 24. Urawa Reds in Group G will also play in Korea Republic against Suwon Samsung FC on 25.

Jeonbuk has been one of the powerhouses in the K League with their head coach Choi Kang Hee, who has won the ACL in 2006. Last year they won the league title for the third time in their club history. Their key players are Korea Republic international midfielder Lee Dong Gook, Han Kyo Won who was on the Korea Republic’s Asian-Cup-runners-up roster, defender Alex Wilkinson, Australian international and the Asian Cup champion, Brazilian forward Edu who played for FC Tokyo last year, and attacking midfielders Enio and Leonardo. Kashiwa survived until the semi-final in the 2013 ACL, but their defenders will surely have their hands full against Jeonbuk.

Urawa’s opponents Suwon Samsung FC finished last year’s K League season at the second place with head coach Seo Jung Won, former Korean international forward. They have several names on the roster that are familiar to Japanese audiences including DPR Korea forward and former Kawasaki Frontale player Chong Tese, Brazilian forward Kaio who used to play for Cerezo Osaka and Yokohama FC, former Korea Republic international and FC Tokyo forward Oh Jang Eun.

It has been two years for Urawa, 2007 ACL Champions, to compete in this elite league since the year 2013 when the current head coach Mihailo Petrovic also led the club. Although forward Koroki Shinzo still needs a while to come back to the pitch, forwards Zlatan and Ishihara Naoki and midfielder Takagi Toshiyuki joined the team in the offseason to deepen their offensive end.

While there are also Brisbane Roar, Australia’s A League Grand Final winner, and Beijing Guoan, China’s C League second-place and the ACL play-off survivor, together with Urawa in Group G, Kashiwa will later take on Chinese FA Cup champions Shandong Luneng FC and Vietnam League winner Binh Duong in Group E.

The ACL group stage matches will continue until 6 May where top two clubs in each group win the right to advance to the knock-out stage. Round 16 matches are scheduled on 19, 20, 26 and 27 May, quarter-finals are on 25 and 26 August and 15 and 16 September, semi-finals are on 29 and 30 September and 20 and 21 October, and lastly the final will be played on 7 and 21 November. From the last year’s league, matches from the group stages to semi-finals are played separately in the east and west regions as the final match will see the best club of the two.

Head Coaches Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Head Coach(Gamba Osaka)
We want to win the title in Asia. The group stage is short and it will finish in early May. So the first priority is advancing out of it. To do that, winning at home and getting three points is most important. Countries in Asia have improved, but I think J.League clubs are good enough to advance. So the key is how well we can prepare for it to play up to the best ability of our players.

Toninho Cerezo, Head Coach(Kashima Antlers)
The important thing in playing in the ACL is whether you can play both home matches and away matches in the way those matches are supposed to be played. Away matches are played in a different environment from what you have in Japan. So you should be well aware of what is out there around you. When we all understand Kashima’s football well and play how we supposed to play, the outcome will follow. Once we make a good start, we can get on a good rhythm and there will be a good momentum going. How we start it will be important.

Mihailo Petrovic, Head Coach(Urawa Reds)
Elite clubs in each country gather in the ACL. The way they play football and how strong they are physically are different from the clubs we face in J.League, and it is never an easy tournament. But what this team experienced in the ACL in 2013 will be big for us in this ACL. We cannot underestimate every team we face, but I think Reds have potential to be the best in Asia. We want to keep advancing in order to prove that.

YOSHIDA Tatsuma, Head Coach(Kashiwa Reysol)
It was our big goal to win the play-off and advance to the league, but we also prepared ourselves with the league matches on our mind. The first opponents haven’t played an official match, so it’s difficult to do scouting on them, but we want to keep the good mood from our play-off wins into the tournament. Of course we need to win every match in the group stage, but we have to play a little differently from in the play-off where it’s “win or go home”. We have to change our mind-set, but in the locker room after the Chonburi match, I think we have already done that.

AFC Champions League 2015
More information on ACL, TV coverage