The AFC Champions League 2015 will have the second leg of the quarter-final matches on 15 and 16 September. Gamba Osaka welcome Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (Korea Republic) at home, who became the Asian champions in 2006 and only fell short in the final in 2011. After finishing the first leg with a 0-0 draw, Gamba can clinch the spot in the semi-finals with winning the second leg match.

Ahead of the showdown, the coaches and players from the clubs expressed their take on the match at the press conference held at the Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium on 15th.

Coach and Players' Comments

HASEGAWA Kenta, Coach (Gamba Osaka)
If we win this match, we can advance to the next round, so we will come out and play only with the belief that we can win. Having a stronger will to win than the opponents and playing our style of football will be necessary for the win. K-League has a variety of clubs, so there is not necessarily the same characteristic in every team.

But mostly they take advantage of their physical strength, and that’s a big difference from J.League clubs. And among all the clubs there, we see Jeonbuk Hyundai being at one level higher. I think it will come down to how much we can maintain our composure.

ENDO Yasuhito (Gamba Osaka)
Jeonbuk Hyudai are the last year’s K-League champions and leading the league in this year, too. They have good players at every position and well organized as a team as well. By maintaining our composure, playing with good motivation and physical condition and playing aggressively without being afraid of making mistakes, we want to show our strength throughout the 90 minutes. We will be united and show everything we have now.

Choi Kang Hee, Coach (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
It is a must-win match for both clubs. We are done with analysing each other, so now all we have to do is keeping our good condition throughout the 90 minutes. The key is our mental state. We have good chemistry among the team and we can come out for the match tomorrow with confidence.

Not having Usami is unfortunate for Gamba Osaka, because he is a very important player for their club. But there are many more players we should be careful of, and they are organized and stable as a team. We will play very carefully but we are not aiming for a draw. We want to win the match and move on.

Kwoun Suntae (Jeonbuk Hyundai)
We started preparing for this AFC Champions League even before the season started and we have come this far. We really want to win this match. We are representing our country, so we want to win no matter what and move on to the last four.

* USAMI Takashi (Gamba Osaka) is suspended from next match due to cumulative yellow cards.

AFC CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2015

Quarter-Final
Wed. 16 September 2015 Kickoff 19:00 (subject to change)　Expo '70 Commemorative Stadium
Gamba Osaka (Japan) vs Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (Korea) 
See more match details