2016 Gamba Osaka season

Coming off the back of a draining 2015 season which saw them play 60 games in all competitions, Gamba sought to add depth to their squad. In came experienced former Shimizu S-Pulse, Nagoya Grampus, Yokohama F. Marinos and Japan national team midfielder Jungo Fujimoto to compete for a right-wing slot with Hiroyuki Abe and Kotaro Omori.[9] Ademilson who had spent the previous campaign as Fujimoto's teammate in Yokohama, moved west to Osaka on a season-long loan deal from São Paulo FC in his homeland. He is expected to battle with Shu Kurata for a place playing just off target-man Patric.[10] In addition, Hiroto Goya, a prolific scorer at varsity level for Kwansei Gakuin University signed up for his first shot at professional football and two youngsters, Hiroki Noda and Kazunari Ichimi joined from Otsu High School in Kumamoto Prefecture. Noda, a native of Kumamoto has actually turned out for his local side Roasso Kumamoto on 5 occasions over the previous 2 seasons despite his tender age of just 18.[11]

There were fewer departures than arrivals during the close season and crucially no starting-eleven members from the previous year were amongst those to leave. Veteran midfielder Tomokazu Myojin made a surprising move to Nagoya Grampus at the ripe-old age of 38 following 10 years of sterling service to the club.[12] Brazilian attacker Lins was also released. A promising debut season in 2014 which saw him net 8 times in 39 games including several crucial late winners gave way to a disappointing 2015 in which he started only 8 games and could only net 4 goals in 36 games in all competitions, therefore it was no surprise when his departure was announced.[13] Finally, Shingo Akamine a close-season signing from Vegalta Sendai the previous year and who, like Lins had endured a frustrating 2015, announced he would be joining J2 side Fagiano Okayama on loan for 2016.[14]

In addition to those main transfers; Kenya Okazaki, Naoki Ogawa and Shōhei Ogura rejoined the club following loan spells at Ehime FC, Fujieda MYFC and Montedio Yamagata respectively[11] while Yuto Uchida who spent the 2015 season with Tokushima Vortis made his loan move into a permanent one.[15]

In the summer transfer window, the big news was the departure of star attacker Takashi Usami to German Bundesliga side Augsburg. The move came 3 years after Usami had returned to Gamba following spells abroad with Bayern Munich and Hoffenheim. He had finished as the club's leading goalscorer in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and was again leading the Gamba goalscoring charts with 6 goals at the time of his departure.[16] Veteran midfielder Takahiro Futagawa, who had spent most of the first half of the season with Gamba's Under-23 side in J3, also moved on and joined Tokyo Verdy on loan for the remaining six months of the campaign.[17]

Brazilian forward Patric, who had endured a hugely disappointing campaign, injured his knee in October and was released by the club in order to complete his rehabilitation in his native country.[18] Also in October, Patric's compatriot, Ademilson, turned his loan move from São Paulo into a permanent one.[19]

In

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred From	Fee	Date	Source
9	FW	Ademilson	São Paulo	Loan	8 Jan	[10]
17	MF	Kenya Okazaki	Ehime FC	Loan Return	17 Jan	[11]
23	FW	Hiroto Goya	Kwansei Gakuin University	Unknown	17 Jan	[11]
24	FW	Naoki Ogawa	Fujieda MYFC	Loan Return	17 Jan	[11]
25	MF	Jungo Fujimoto	Yokohama F. Marinos	Unknown	11 Jan	[9]
32	DF	Hiroki Noda	Ohzu High School	Unknown	17 Jan	[11]
33	FW	Kazunari Ichimi	Ohzu High School	Unknown	17 Jan	[11]
40	MF	Shōhei Ogura	Montedio Yamagata	Loan Return	17 Jan	[11]
9	FW	Ademilson	São Paulo	Unknown	14 October	[19]

Out

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred To	Fee	Date	Source
9	FW	Lins	Released	Free	2 Jan	[13]
17	MF	Tomokazu Myojin	Nagoya Grampus	Unknown	6 Jan	[12]
23	DF	Yuto Uchida	Tokushima Vortis	Unknown	6 Jan	[15]
24	FW	Shingo Akamine	Fagiano Okayama	Loan	7 Jan	[14]
10	MF	Takahiro Futagawa	Tokyo Verdy	Loan	1 Jul	[17]
39	FW	Takashi Usami	FC Augsburg	Unknown	1 Jul	[16]
39	FW	Patric	released	Unknown	21 Oct	[18]

As of the beginning of 2016 season.[11]

No.	Name	Nationality	Position(s)	Date of Birth (Age)	Height (cm)	Weight (kg)	Since	Previous Club	Games Played	Goals Scored
Goalkeepers
1	Masaaki Higashiguchi		GK	(1986-05-12)May 12, 1986 (aged 30)	184	78	2014	Albirex Niigata	105	0
16	Ken Tajiri		GK	(1993-06-11)June 11, 1993 (aged 23)	182	76	2013	Gamba Osaka Youth	0	0
18	Yōsuke Fujigaya		GK	(1981-02-13)February 13, 1981 (aged 35)	185	78	2015	Júbilo Iwata	342	0
31	Mizuki Hayashi		GK	(1996-09-04)September 4, 1996 (aged 20)	182	74	2015	Gamba Osaka Youth	0	0
Defenders
3	Takaharu Nishino		CB	(1993-09-14)September 14, 1993 (aged 23)	187	73	2012	Gamba Osaka Youth	66	6
4	Hiroki Fujiharu		LB	(1988-11-28)November 28, 1988 (aged 28)	175	60	2011	Osaka University of H&SS	199	8
5	Daiki Niwa		CB	(1986-01-16)January 16, 1986 (aged 30)	180	76	2012	Avispa Fukuoka*	137	6
6	Kim Jung-ya	/	CB	(1988-05-17)May 17, 1988 (aged 28)	183	74	2014	Sagan Tosu*	58	0
8	Keisuke Iwashita		CB	(1986-09-24)September 24, 1986 (aged 30)	181	76	2012	Shimizu S-Pulse	117	5
14	Koki Yonekura		RB	(1988-05-17)May 17, 1988 (aged 28)	176	68	2014	JEF United	84	7
22	Oh Jae-suk		RB / LB	(1990-01-04)January 4, 1990 (aged 26)	178	74	2013	Gangwon FC	64	0
30	So Hirao		RB	(1996-07-01)July 1, 1996 (aged 20)	170	68	2015	Gamba Osaka Youth	2	0
32	Hiroki Noda		CB	(1997-07-27)July 27, 1997 (aged 19)	181	73	2016	Otsu High School	0	0
35	Ryo Hatsuse		RB / LB	(1997-07-10)July 10, 1997 (aged 19)	175	64	2015	Gamba Osaka Youth	0	0
Midfielders
7	Yasuhito Endō (c)		CM / AM	(1980-01-28)January 28, 1980 (aged 36)	178	75	2001	Kyoto Purple Sanga	614	118
10	Takahiro Futagawa		RM / LM	(1980-06-27)June 27, 1980 (aged 36)	168	63	1999	Gamba Osaka Youth	598	87
11	Shu Kurata		RW / LW / AM	(1988-11-26)November 26, 1988 (aged 28)	172	68	2012	Cerezo Osaka*	204	36
13	Hiroyuki Abe		RW	(1989-07-05)July 5, 1989 (aged 27)	170	69	2012	Kwansei Gakuin University	154	26
15	Yasuyuki Konno		CB / DM	(1983-01-25)January 25, 1983 (aged 33)	178	73	2012	FC Tokyo	173	14
17	Kenya Okazaki		CM / RM / LM	(1990-05-31)May 31, 1990 (aged 26)	173	62	2016	Ehime FC*	29	2
19	Kotaro Omori		RW / LW	(1992-04-28)April 28, 1992 (aged 24)	167	63	2011	Gamba Osaka Youth	111	14
21	Yosuke Ideguchi		CM	(1996-08-23)August 23, 1996 (aged 20)	171	69	2014	Gamba Osaka Youth	22	0
25	Jungo Fujimoto		RW	(1984-03-24)March 24, 1984 (aged 32)	173	69	2016	Yokohama F. Marinos	0	0
26	Naoya Senoo		LB / LM	(1996-08-15)August 15, 1996 (aged 20)	172	60	2015	Gamba Osaka Youth	1	0
27	Tatsuya Uchida		CB / DM	(1992-02-08)February 8, 1992 (aged 24)	177	70	2011	Gamba Osaka Youth	70	1
28	Shota Yomesaka		CB / LB / LM	(1996-10-19)October 19, 1996 (aged 20)	177	67	2014	Gamba Osaka Youth	0	0
36	Mizuki Ichimaru		CM / RM	(1997-05-08)May 8, 1997 (aged 19)	174	66	2016	Gamba Osaka Youth	0	0
38	Ritsu Doan		RM / LM	(1998-06-16)June 16, 1998 (aged 18)	172	70	2015	Gamba Osaka Youth	4	0
40	Shōhei Ogura		RB / CB / DM	(1985-09-08)September 8, 1985 (aged 31)	174	67	2015	Yokohama F. Marinos	10	0
Strikers
9	Ademilson		AM / CF	(1994-01-09)January 9, 1994 (aged 22)	176	74	2016	São Paulo (loan)	0	0
20	Shun Nagasawa		CF	(1988-08-25)August 25, 1988 (aged 28)	192	82	2015	Shimizu S-Pulse	11	5
23	Hiroto Goya		CF	(1994-01-02)January 2, 1994 (aged 22)	177	68	2016	Kwansei Gakuin University	0	0
24	Naoki Ogawa		AM / CF	(1995-07-03)July 3, 1995 (aged 21)	168	62	2016	Fujieda MYFC*	3	1
29	Patric		CF	(1987-10-26)October 26, 1987 (aged 29)	189	82	2014	Atlético Goianiense	82	36
33	Kazunari Ichimi		CF	(1997-11-10)November 10, 1997 (aged 19)	183	74	2016	Otsu High School	0	0
37	Akito Takagi		CF	(1997-08-04)August 4, 1997 (aged 19)	175	68	2016	Gamba Osaka Youth	1	0
39	Takashi Usami		LW / AM / CF	(1992-05-06)May 6, 1992 (aged 24)	178	69	2013	Hoffenheim*	172	86

As winners of the 2015 Emperor's Cup, Gamba squared off against reigning J1 League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima at Nissan Stadium, Yokohama. The match ended up in a 3-1 defeat for Gamba, with Hisato Satō opening the scoring for Sanfrecce in the 52nd minute and Takuma Asano adding a second from the penalty spot 5 minutes later. Takashi Usami pulled a goal back for Gamba in the 68th minute but it wasn't enough as Sanfrecce's new Nigerian signing Peter Utaka wrapped up the game with 17 minutes remaining. The result means that Gamba have now won just 2 of their 6 appearances in the Japanese Super Cup with victories in 2007 and 2015 and defeats in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2016. One other point to note is that this game saw the competitive debuts in a Gamba shirt for attacking midfielders Ademilson and Jungo Fujimoto, both of whom joined from Yokohama F. Marinos in the close season.

The first half of the 2016 J1 League season was a disappointing one for Gamba and ended up in a 6th-place finish. Results were wildly inconsistent with 7 wins 3 draws and 7 defeats. Goalscoring was a real issue, especially early on, with only 9 goals in their first 10 games. They also failed to score more than once in 11 out of their 17 games.

Gameweeks 11-17 which fell after their exit from the AFC Champions League brought more goals but, also saw what had been a pretty solid defence become more porous. 3-3 draws at home to two struggling sides, Shonan Bellmare and Nagoya Grampus, summed up this stage of the campaign.

In terms of team selection, the early weeks of the season where Gamba had to balance J1 League and Champions League commitments saw coach Kenta Hasegawa rotate his squad a lot. The full back and attacking midfield berths saw the most instability. While an injury to South Korean full-back Oh Jae-suk and the game time allowed to youngster Ryo Hatsuse with Gamba's Under-23 side in J3 saw Koki Yonekura and Hiroki Fujiharu become the established right-back and left-back respectively, the strongest combination of attacking midfielders in the favoured 4-2-3-1 formation was never determined. Takashi Usami, Shu Kurata, Hiroyuki Abe and Kotaro Omori had all been retained from the previous year, where the latter 3 tended to be rotated. However, the close-season signings of Ademilson and Jungo Fujimoto from Yokohama F. Marinos gave Gamba excessive depth in that area. Ademilson acquitted himself well with 4 goals which came both from attacking midfield and also centre-forward, however Fujimoto struggled to establish himself and had to turn out occasionally for Gamba U-23 to get game time after Gamba's Champions League elimination.

Returning to the theme of goalscoring, perhaps the biggest concern from the first half of the season was the poor goal return of Patric who failed to find the target in 13 appearances. Following two goal-laden seasons in which he and Usami had scored 50 goals between them, they could only muster 6 goals during the first 17 games of this campaign. Indeed, Patric often found himself playing off the bench with his compatriot Ademilson or the tall Shun Nagasawa starting in his place. In light of this, Usami's departure for Germany in mid-season would prove to be a major worry for Gamba going forward.

Match Day Line-Ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2016 J1 League First Stage:

Player Appearances – 2016 J1 League First Stage
Round	Opponent	GK	RB	LB	CB	CB	CM	CM	RW	LW	AM	CF
1	Kashima Antlers	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Fujimoto	Omori	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Ideguchi	Usami
2	Ventforet Kofu	Higashiguchi	Oh	Hatsuse	Konno	Kim	Endō	Uchida	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Nagasawa	Omori	Ideguchi	Goya
3	Omiya Ardija	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Endō	Ideguchi	Abe	Omori	Usami	Nagasawa	Kurata	Goya	Fujimoto
4	Vissel Kobe	Higashiguchi	Hatsuse	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Endō	Uchida	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Nagasawa	Ademilson	Ideguchi	Patric
5	Yokohama F. Marinos	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Endō	Ideguchi	Ademilson	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Goya	Hatsuse
6	Vegalta Sendai	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Usami	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Omori	Ogura
7	Kashiwa Reysol	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Usami	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Omori	Patric
8	Avispa Fukuoka	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Kurata	Goya	Patric	Fujimoto	Usami
9	Kawasaki Frontale	Higashiguchi	Hatsuse	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Nagasawa	Goya	Fujimoto
10	Albirex Niigata	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Endō	Konno	Abe	Usami	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Ideguchi	Patric
11	Júbilo Iwata	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Ideguchi	Konno	Ademilson	Usami	Endō	Patric	Kim	Kurata	Fujimoto
12	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Endō	Konno	Ademilson	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Omori	Nagasawa	Ogura
13	FC Tokyo	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Endō	Konno	Ademilson	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Omori	Goya	Fujimoto
14	Shonan Bellmare	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Endō	Konno	Ademilson	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Omori	Goya	Fujimoto
15	Urawa Red Diamonds	Higashiguchi	Niwa	Fujiharu	Kim	Iwashita	Ideguchi	Konno	Abe	Usami	Endō	Ademilson	Kurata	Patric
16	Sagan Tosu	Higashiguchi	Niwa	Fujiharu	Kim	Iwashita	Ideguchi	Konno	Abe	Usami	Endō	Ademilson	Kurata	Yonekura	Patric
17	Nagoya Grampus	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Ademilson	Omori	Ideguchi

= Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored, = Yellow Card and = Red Card.

Freed from Asian Champions League commitments, Gamba performed much better during the second stage of the 2016 J1 League season finishing with a record of 10 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats which saw them come home in 4th place in both the second stage and overall league tables. Impressive away victories over Kashima Antlers and Kawasaki Frontale bookended what was a half of the season largely full of positives.

The mid-season departure of Takashi Usami was not felt as keenly as first feared with the team netting 31 times in 17 games, Shun Nagasawa found the back of the net 6 times, Ademilson 5 and impressive central-midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi, buoyed by his appearance in the Olympics provided 4 in what was a great overall team effort.

The only negatives were the disappointing 0-0 draw at home to league whipping boys Avispa Fukuoka, the painful 1-0 derby defeat against Vissel Kobe in which Ademilson missed a penalty which would have salvaged a draw and also the chastening 4-0 reverse away to second stage champions Urawa Red Diamonds.

Gamba's 4th-place finish in the overall standings left them waiting on the result of the Emperor's Cup to know whether or not they had qualified for the following season's Champions League.

Match Day Line-Ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2016 J1 League Second Stage:

Player appearances – 2016 J1 League Second Stage
Round	Opponent	GK	RB	LB	CB	CB	CM	CM	RW	LW	AM	CF
18	Kashima Antlers	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Ideguchi	Patric
19	Vegalta Sendai	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Ideguchi	Oh	Patric
20	Omiya Ardija	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Patric	Ademilson	Ideguchi	Fujimoto
21	Avispa Fukuoka	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Ideguchi	Konno	Abe	Kurata	Endō	Patric	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Fujimoto
22	Kashiwa Reysol	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Patric	Doan
23	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Omori	Uchida	Patric
24	Sagan Tosu	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Kurata	Ademilson	Goya	Omori	Nagasawa
25	Júbilo Iwata	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Hatsuse	Doan
26	Vissel Kobe	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Konno	Abe	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Fujiharu	Nagasawa	Doan
27	Shonan Bellmare	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Ideguchi	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Nishino	Abe	Patric
28	Ventforet Kofu	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Ideguchi	Abe	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Konno	Omori	Goya
29	Nagoya Grampus	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Endō	Ideguchi	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Nishino	Yonekura	Konno
30	FC Tokyo	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Omori	Kurata	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Endō	Goya	Fujimoto
31	Urawa Red Diamonds	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Nishino	Endō	Ideguchi	Kurata	Omori	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Konno	Goya	Fujimoto
32	Yokohama F. Marinos	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Oh	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Fujimoto	Omori	Endō	Goya	Fujiharu	Kurata	Nagasawa
33	Albirex Niigata	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Iwashita	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Fujimoto	Kurata	Endō	Ademilson	Abe	Omori	Goya
34	Kawasaki Frontale	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Iwashita	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Kurata	Omori	Endō	Ademilson	Abe	Goya

= Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored, = Yellow Card and = Red Card.

Gamba were drawn in Group G along with Australian side Melbourne Victory, Korean outfit Suwon Samsung Bluewings and China's Shanghai SIPG. It was to prove a disappointing campaign for them culminating in an exit at the group stage, a strong contrast with the previous season's run to the semi-finals. An inability to find the back of the net which had plagued their early form in J1 also proved to be their downfall in the Champions League with only 4 goals scored in 6 games.

Draws in their opening two games away to Samsung and at home to Melbourne were to prove the high points as they were followed by a run of four defeats in a row, three of which came by a solitary goal. As it happened, Sven-Göran Eriksson's Shanghai side ran out group winners with 12 points, 3 ahead of both Melbourne and Samsung on 9. It was Melbourne who advanced with them, with their final round win over a largely second string Gamba side giving them the points they required to overtake Suwon due to having a better head-to-head record in matches played between the two sides. Gamba finished fourth and last in the group.

Match Day Line-Ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2016 AFC Champions League:

Player Appearances – 2016 AFC Champions League
Round	Opponent	GK	RB	LB	CB	CB	CM	CM	RW	LW	AM	CF
1	Samsung Bluewings	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Endō	Yonekura	Nagasawa
2	Melbourne Victory	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Ideguchi	Endō	Abe	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Ademilson	Omori
3	Shanghai SIPG	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Ideguchi	Endō	Abe	Omori	Usami	Patric	Kurata	Yonekura	Fujimoto
4	Shanghai SIPG	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Konno	Kim	Ideguchi	Endō	Ademilson	Usami	Kurata	Patric	Nishino	Nagasawa	Fujimoto
5	Samsung Bluewings	Higashiguchi	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Konno	Endō	Fujimoto	Usami	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Yonekura	Patric
6	Melbourne Victory	Fujigaya	Yonekura	Hatsuse	Niwa	Iwashita	Ideguchi	Uchida	Fujimoto	Omori	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Futagawa	Goya	Doan

= Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored, = Yellow Card and = Red Card.

As a result of their qualification for the AFC Champions League, Gamba were given a bye into the quarter-finals of the League Cup, where they were paired against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a two-legged encounter. A 1-1 draw in Hiroshima was followed by an emphatic 6-3 home win for Gamba which saw them qualify for the semi-finals and a tie against Yokohama F. Marinos in October. The first leg, held in Osaka, finished 0-0 and the second leg was also a draw, this time 1-1 which saw Gamba through on away goals and paved the way for a 3rd league cup final appearance in 3 years. The final was played against Urawa Red Diamonds at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Saturday 15 October 2016.

A solo run by Ademilson gave Gamba a first half lead which lasted until the 76th minute when Tadanari Lee's header squared things up. Extra-time followed and Gamba came agonisingly close to netting the winner in the 120th minute when Hiroto Goya's shot was deflected past the goalkeeper and onto the post, it then proceeded to roll along the goal line before being swept to safety by Urawa defender Ryota Moriwaki. It was perhaps an omen as following 3 successful penalty kicks for each side, Goya had his spot-kick saved by Shusaku Nishikawa. This proved to be the decisive miss as the Reds netted all of their penalties and went on to win the shootout 5-4.

This was Gamba's 5th appearance in the J.League Cup final and their 3rd in as many years. To date they have lifted the trophy twice, in 2007 and 2014 with this defeat being their 3rd defeat in the final, following reverses in 2005 and 2015.

Match Day Line-Ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2016 J.League Cup:

Player Appearances – 2016 J.League Cup
Round	Opponent	GK	RB	LB	CB	CB	CM	CM	RW	LW	AM	FW
QF	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Fujigaya	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Kurata	Abe	Omori	Fujimoto	Patric	Nagasawa	Goya	Uchida
QF	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	Fujigaya	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Endō	Abe	Omori	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Kurata	Goya	Fujimoto
SF	Yokohama F. Marinos	Fujigaya	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Fujimoto	Omori	Kurata	Patric	Ademilson	Goya
SF	Yokohama F. Marinos	Fujigaya	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Fujimoto	Kurata	Endō	Ademilson	Iwashita	Omori	Nagasawa
F	Urawa Red Diamonds	Higashiguchi	Yonekura	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Kurata	Omori	Endō	Ademilson	Nagasawa	Goya	Fujimoto

= Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored, = Yellow Card and = Red Card.

Gamba began their defence of the title they've won for the past 2 seasons at home to J2 side Shimizu S-Pulse on November 9.[20] Shun Nagasawa's strike in extra time was enough to see them through to the quarter-finals where they were paired with Yokohama F. Marinos in what would be the 5th meeting of the season between the two teams. Having already drawn twice at Nissan Stadium earlier in the season, this was once again a tight affair with Manabu Saitō putting the Marinos ahead from the penalty spot in the 63rd minute only for Yasuyuki Konno to seemingly send the tie into extra time with an 87th-minute equaliser. Unfortunately for Gamba, Jun Amano had other ideas and his 96th-minute strike from outside the box sent them through to the semi-finals and left Gamba hoping Kashima or Kawasaki would lift the cup to ensure their progression to the 2017 Asian Champions League.

Match Day Line-Ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2016 Emperor's Cup:

Player Appearances – 2016 Emperor's Cup
Round	Opponent	GK	RB	LB	CB	CB	CM	CM	RW	LW	AM	FW
4R	Shimizu S-Pulse	Fujigaya	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Iwashita	Endō	Konno	Doan	Kurata	Ademilson	Goya	Abe	Nagasawa	Hatsuse
QF	Yokohama F. Marinos	Fujigaya	Oh	Fujiharu	Niwa	Kim	Ideguchi	Konno	Kurata	Fujimoto	Endō	Ademilson	Omori	Nagasawa	Hatsuse

= Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored, = Yellow Card and = Red Card.

No.	Pos.	Name	League		Emperor's Cup		J.League Cup		Champions League		Super Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Masaaki Higashiguchi	34	0	0	0	1	0	5	0	1	0	41	0	3	0
3	DF	Takaharu Nishino	1(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	1(3)	0	0	0
4	DF	Hiroki Fujiharu	27(2)	2	2	0	5	0	5	0	1	0	40(2)	2	2	0
5	DF	Daiki Niwa	28	0	2	0	5	1	3	0	1	0	39	1	4	0
6	DF	Kim Jung-ya	27(1)	3	1	0	5	0	5	0	0	0	38(1)	3	3	0
7	MF	Yasuhito Endō (c)	33(1)	2	2	0	3	1	4(1)	1	1	0	43(2)	4	6	0
8	DF	Keisuke Iwashita	10	1	1	0	0(1)	0	1	0	0	0	12(1)	1	5	0
9	FW	Ademilson	24(5)	9	2	0	3(1)	3	3(1)	1	1	0	33(7)	13	3	1
10	MF	Takahiro Futagawa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
11	MF	Shu Kurata	25(9)	2	2	0	4(1)	0	3(2)	0	0(1)	0	34(13)	2	3	0
13	MF	Hiroyuki Abe	21(3)	3	0(1)	0	2	1	3	0	1	0	27(4)	4	2	0
14	DF	Koki Yonekura	19(2)	1	0	0	5	0	3(2)	0	0	0	27(4)	1	5	0
15	MF	Yasuyuki Konno	30(3)	4	2	1	3	0	5	1	1	0	41(3)	6	4	0
16	GK	Ken Tajiri	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF	Kenya Okazaki	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	GK	Yōsuke Fujigaya	0	0	2	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	7	0	0	0
19	MF	Kotaro Omori	13(11)	3	0(1)	0	4(1)	0	2(1)	0	0	0	19(14)	3	1	0
20	FW	Shun Nagasawa	13(8)	9	0(2)	1	1(3)	2	2(2)	0	0(1)	0	16(16)	12	6	0
21	MF	Yosuke Ideguchi	14(8)	4	1	0	5	0	5	0	1	0	26(8)	4	7	0
22	DF	Oh Jae-suk	17(1)	0	2	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	24(1)	0	3	0
23	FW	Hiroto Goya	3(11)	1	1	0	0(4)	1	0(1)	0	0	0	4(16)	2	1	1
24	FW	Naoki Ogawa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	Jungo Fujimoto	3(10)	0	1	0	3(2)	0	2(2)	0	0(1)	0	9(15)	0	3	0
26	MF	Naoya Senoo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Tatsuya Uchida	2(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	1	0	0	0	3(2)	0	1	0
28	MF	Shota Yomesaka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	FW	Patric	10(10)	2	0	0	2	0	4(1)	1	1	0	17(11)	3	3	0
30	DF	So Hirao	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	GK	Mizuki Hayashi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	DF	Hiroki Noda	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	FW	Kazunari Ichimi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	DF	Ryo Hatsuse	3(2)	0	0(2)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4(4)	0	0	0
36	MF	Mizuki Ichimaru	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	FW	Akito Takagi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
38	MF	Ritsu Doan	0(3)	0	1	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	1(4)	0	0	0
39	FW	Takashi Usami	15(2)	5	0	0	0	0	5	0	1	1	21(2)	6	0	0
40	MF	Shōhei Ogura	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0
—	—	Own goals	–	2	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	0	–	2	–	–

Statistics accurate as of match played on 24 December 2016.[21][22]