The 2016 Gamba Osaka season was Gamba Osaka's 23rd season in the J1 League and 29th overall in the Japanese top flight. Like the previous season, the 2016 campaign was split into two stages, with the first stage running from February to June, the second stage being held between July and November and finally a Championship stage in late November. With city-rivals Cerezo Osaka failing to gain promotion from J2, Gamba's main rivalry match was the Hanshin derby against Vissel Kobe with an away game held in round 4 on the 19th March and the return home match in round 26 on August 20. Gamba finished in 6th place in the first stage of the season and 4th place in the second stage for an overall 4th-place finish.
Gamba's position as runner-up in the 2015 J1 League Championship saw them automatically qualify for the 2016 AFC Champions League, their eighth appearance in the competition. Looking to improve on their run to the semi-finals in 2015, they were drawn into the tough looking Group G along with Australian side Melbourne Victory, South Korea's Suwon Samsung Bluewings and big-spending Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG. The group stage kicked off on Wednesday 24 February and concluded on Tuesday 3 May with all sides in the group playing each other home and away in a round-robin basis. Gamba were eliminated at the group stage with only 2 points from 6 games to show for their efforts.
As winners of the 2015 Emperor's Cup, Gamba competed in the season opening Japanese Super Cup, held in Yokohama on 20 February. The annually held match pitted Gamba against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, the side who defeated them in the final of the 2015 J1 League Championship. This was Gamba's 6th appearance in the Super Cup, however they were unable to build on their previous victories in 2007 and 2015 and lost 3–1. Trailing 2–0 due to early second half goals from Satō and Asano, top scorer of the previous 3 campaigns Takashi Usami pulled one back, however Utaka added a third for Hiroshima shortly afterwards to seal the win.
Later on in the season, Gamba entered the 2016 J.League Cup and 2016 Emperor's Cup. Due to their AFC Champions League commitments, they were given a bye past the J.League Cup group stage and entered in the quarter-finals. Similarly they entered the Emperor's Cup in the 4th round. They went all the way to the final of the J.League cup for the 3rd time in a row, however they lost out to the Urawa Red Diamonds in a penalty shoot-out. In the Emperor's Cup, they bowed out to Yokohama F. Marinos in the quarter-finals meaning that this would be their first season without any silverware since 2012.
This was Gamba's first season playing at the newly opened Suita City Football Stadium which was built in the same park as Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, their home from 1980–2015. The first official game to be held in the new stadium was on 14 February 2016, the pre-season Panasonic Cup match between Gamba and Nagoya Grampus which the home side won 3–1. The first league match was held in front of 32,463 spectators on 28 February against Kashima Antlers. It resulted in a 1–0 defeat against the team which went on to win the first stage of the 2016 J1 League The move to the new stadium was a huge success in terms of increasing attendance with average league attendances increasing from 15,999 in 2015 to 25,342 in 2016.
Transfers
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. 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. 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.
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 aged 38, following 10 years of sterling service to the club. 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. 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.
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 while Yuto Uchida who spent the 2015 season with Tokushima Vortis made his loan move into a permanent one.
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. 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.
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. Also in October, Patric's compatriot, Ademilson, turned his loan move from São Paulo into a permanent one.
In
PlayerTransferred FromFeeDateSource 9 Ademilson São PauloLoan8 Jan 17 Kenya Okazaki Ehime FCLoan Return17 Jan 23 Hiroto Goya Kwansei Gakuin UniversityUnknown17 Jan 24 Naoki Ogawa Fujieda MYFCLoan Return17 Jan 25 Jungo Fujimoto Yokohama F. MarinosUnknown11 Jan 32 Hiroki Noda Ohzu High SchoolUnknown17 Jan 33 Kazunari Ichimi Ohzu High SchoolUnknown17 Jan 40 Shōhei Ogura Montedio YamagataLoan Return17 Jan 9 Ademilson São PauloUnknown14 October
Out
PlayerTransferred ToFeeDateSource 9 Lins ReleasedFree2 Jan 17 Tomokazu Myojin Nagoya GrampusUnknown6 Jan 23 Yuto Uchida Tokushima VortisUnknown6 Jan 24 Shingo Akamine Fagiano OkayamaLoan7 Jan 10 Takahiro Futagawa Tokyo VerdyLoan1 Jul 39 Takashi Usami FC AugsburgUnknown1 Jul 39 Patric releasedUnknown21 Oct
First team squad
No. Name Nationality Position(s) Date of birth (age) Height (cm) Weight (kg) Since Previous club Games played Goals scored Goalkeepers 1 GK 184 78 2014 105 0 16 Ken Tajiri GK 182 76 2013 Gamba Osaka Youth 0 0 18 Yōsuke Fujigaya GK 185 78 2015 Júbilo Iwata 342 0 31 Mizuki Hayashi GK 182 74 2015 Gamba Osaka Youth 0 0 Defenders 3 Takaharu Nishino CB 187 73 2012 Gamba Osaka Youth 66 6 4 Hiroki Fujiharu LB 175 60 2011 199 8 5 Daiki Niwa CB 180 76 2012 Avispa Fukuoka* 137 6 6 Kim Jung-ya / CB 183 74 2014 Sagan Tosu* 58 0 8 Keisuke Iwashita CB 181 76 2012 Shimizu S-Pulse 117 5 14 Koki Yonekura RB 176 68 2014 JEF United 84 7 22 Oh Jae-suk RB / LB 178 74 2013 Gangwon FC 64 0 30 So Hirao RB 170 68 2015 Gamba Osaka Youth 2 0 32 Hiroki Noda CB 181 73 2016 Otsu High School 0 0 35 Ryo Hatsuse RB / LB 175 64 2015 Gamba Osaka Youth 0 0 Midfielders 7 Yasuhito Endō (c) CM / AM 178 75 2001 Kyoto Purple Sanga 614 118 10 Takahiro Futagawa RM / LM 168 63 1999 Gamba Osaka Youth 598 87 11 Shu Kurata 172 68 2012 Cerezo Osaka* 204 36 13 Hiroyuki Abe RW 170 69 2012 154 26 15 Yasuyuki Konno CB / DM 178 73 2012 FC Tokyo 173 14 17 Kenya Okazaki 173 62 2016 Ehime FC* 29 2 19 Kotaro Omori RW / LW 167 63 2011 Gamba Osaka Youth 111 14 21 Yosuke Ideguchi CM 171 69 2014 Gamba Osaka Youth 22 0 25 Jungo Fujimoto RW 173 69 2016 Yokohama F. Marinos 0 0 26 Naoya Senoo LB / LM 172 60 2015 Gamba Osaka Youth 1 0 27 Tatsuya Uchida CB / DM 177 70 2011 Gamba Osaka Youth 70 1 28 Shota Yomesaka CB / LB / LM 177 67 2014 Gamba Osaka Youth 0 0 36 Mizuki Ichimaru CM / RM 174 66 2016 Gamba Osaka Youth 0 0 38 Ritsu Doan RM / LM 172 70 2015 Gamba Osaka Youth 4 0 40 Shōhei Ogura 174 67 2015 Yokohama F. Marinos 10 0 Strikers9Ademilson AM / CF 176 74 2016 São Paulo (loan) 0 0 20 Shun Nagasawa CF 192 82 2015 Shimizu S-Pulse 11 5 23 Hiroto Goya CF 177 68 2016 0 0 24 Naoki Ogawa AM / CF 168 62 2016 Fujieda MYFC* 3 1 29 Patric CF 189 82 2014 Atlético Goianiense 82 36 33 Kazunari Ichimi CF 183 74 2016 Otsu High School 0 0 37 Akito Takagi CF 175 68 2016 Gamba Osaka Youth 1 0 39 Takashi Usami 178 69 2013 Hoffenheim* 172 86 * indicates player returned to Gamba Osaka from a loan spell with this club.
Pre-season friendlies
DateOpponentsH / AResultF-AScorersAttendance14 February 2016Nagoya GrampusH3–1o.g. 26', Konno 36', Niwa 66'35,231
Japanese Super Cup
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.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF-AScorersAttendance20 February 2016Sanfrecce HiroshimaN1–3Usami 68'33,805
J1 League First Stage
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.
In gameweeks 11–17, which followed their AFC Champions League exit, matches featured higher scoring outcomes and a change in defensive patterns compared with earlier in the season. This was illustrated by consecutive 3–3 home draws against Shonan Bellmare and Nagoya Grampus.