The 2015 Gamba Osaka season was

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

's 22nd season in the J.League Division 1 and 28th overall in the Japanese top flight. It also includes the

2015 J.League Cup The 2015 J.League Cup, also known as the 2015 J.League Yamazaki Nabisco Cup for sponsoring purposes, is the 40th edition of the most prestigious Japanese soccer league cup tournament and the 23rd edition under the current J.League Cup format. Form ...

2015 Emperor's Cup The was the regular edition of the annual Japanese national cup tournament, which was held from 29 August 2015 to its final on 1 January 2016.(in Japanese) Japan Football Association, 13 November 2014 The winners, Gamba Osaka, qualified to the g ...

2015 AFC Champions League The 2015 AFC Champions League was the 34th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 13th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande won the tournament ...

2015 Japanese Super Cup The 2015 Japanese Super Cup was held on 28 February 2015 between the 2014 J.League champions Gamba Osaka and the 2014 J.League runner-up Urawa Red Diamonds. This was both clubs' third encounter in the Super Cup, Urawa having won in 2006 and Ga ...

and the 2015 Suruga Bank Championship.

Transfers

In

Out

First team squad

Pre-season friendlies

Japanese Super Cup

Gamba started their domestic season on 28 February 2015 with a 2–0 victory over the 2014 J.League runners-up, the

Urawa Red Diamonds , colloquially Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, is a professional football club in the city of Saitama, part of the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. The club plays in the J ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

. Both Gamba's goals came in the second half and were scored by

Takashi Usami is a Japanese professional footballer who plays for Gamba Osaka in the J1 League. He plays as a forward or a winger. Club career Gamba Osaka Usami made club history by making his professional debut for Gamba Osaka at the age of 17 years and 14 ...

and

Patric Patric may refer to: * PATRIC, the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center, a bacterial infectious disease information system * Patric (singer) (born 1947), full name Patrick Martin, French singer * Patric (footballer, born 1987), full name Ande ...

J.League 1

Starting from the 2015 season, it was announced that the J.League would again change back to a two-stage "mini-league" (last held in 2004). The winners of each stage and top three clubs of the aggregate table subsequently qualify for the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

First stage

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2015 J.League 1 First Stage: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

Second stage

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2015 J.League 1 Second stage: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

Overall standings

Championship stage

Gamba's 3rd-place finish in the overall standings for J.League 1 in 2015 saw them paired against the

at the semi-final stage. Due to Urawa's higher placing, the match was played at

Saitama Stadium 2002 , often called or simply , is a football stadium located in Midori-ku, Saitama, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Currently, J1 League club Urawa Red Diamonds use this stadium for home games. It is the largest football-specific stadium in Japan an ...

, Urawa's home ground. A 3–1 win after extra-time set up a two-legged final against

Sanfrecce Hiroshima Sanfrecce Hiroshima ( ja, サンフレッチェ広島, translit=''Sanfuretche Hiroshima'') is a Japanese professional football club based in Asaminami-ku, Hiroshima. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the coun ...

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the J.League 1 Championship Stage: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

AFC Champions League

As 2014 J.League Division 1 champions, Gamba qualified for the

. This was their 7th appearance in the competition and their first since

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

. They were drawn into Group F along with

Buriram United Buriram United Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลบุรีรัมย์ ยูไนเต็ด) is a professional football club based in Buriram, Thailand. The club has played at the top level of Thai football for the ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Guangzhou R&F Guangzhou City Football Club (广州城) is a Chinese professional football club that competes in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and their home venu ...

of China and

Seongnam Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential cit ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. Gamba finished top of the group and along with Seongnam qualified for the Round of 16. As Group F winners they were paired against the runner-up of Group H who were

FC Seoul FC Seoul ( ko, FC 서울) is a South Korean professional football club based in Seoul that competes in the K League 1, the top flight of South Korean football. The club is owned by GS Sports, a subsidiary of GS Group. They play their home games ...

. Gamba defeated Seoul 6–3 on aggregate and were paired with yet another Korean side,

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors ( ko, 전북 현대 모터스) is a South Korean professional football club based in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Playing at the Jeonju World Cup S ...

in the quarter-finals. Following a scoreless draw in the first leg in Korea, Gamba sealed a dramatic 3–2 victory at home, with defender Koki Yonekura netting the winner in the 93rd minute to ensure their progression to the semi-finals where they were paired with Chinese side

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

. A 2–1 defeat in China followed by 0–0 draw at home saw Gamba fall at the semi-final stage.

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2015 AFC Champions League: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

Suruga Bank Championship

The Suruga Bank Championship sees the winners of the previous season's

J.League Cup The is a Japanese football (soccer) competition organized by J.League. It has been sponsored by Yamazaki Biscuits (YBC) of Yamazaki Baking (formerly Yamazaki Nabisco) since its inception in 1992. It is also known as the or (Levain is one of YB ...

and Copa Sudamerica face off in a one-off match. This saw Gamba take on

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

giants River Plate. A 3–0 defeat at

Osaka Expo '70 Stadium , also called Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, is an athletics stadium located in the Expo Commemoration Park, the site of Expo '70, in the city of Suita, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has a capacity of around about 21,000. The stadium was the home ground o ...

saw Gamba finish as runners-up.

J.League Cup

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

Nagoya Grampus (formerly known as ) is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp. in 1939, the c ...

in a two-legged encounter. After a dramatic 10–9 penalty shoot-out victory over Nagoya, in which goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya struck the winning penalty, Gamba were drawn against

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. From 2023, Albirex will be playing on the J1 League, coming back to the fir ...

in the semi-finals. A 3–2 aggregate win over Niigata set up a final against

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

which they lost 3–0.

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2015 J.League Cup: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

Emperor's Cup

Due to their success in reaching the AFC Champions League semi-final, Gamba were given a bye to the 4th round of the Emperor's Cup where they were drawn away to fellow J-League 1 side

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium, in Nakahara W ...

. A 2–0 victory saw them progress to the quarter-finals where they were paired with another J-League 1 outfit, this time

Sagan Tosu is a Japanese professional football club, currently playing in the J1 League. The team is located in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. ''Sagan'' is a coined word with a couple of meanings behind it. One of its homophones is in Japanese. This symbolises ...

. A 3–1 win ensured they qualified for the semi-finals where they were again successful, this time beating 2015 J-League 1 Champions

3–0 in a match played at

Nagai Stadium , known as the Yanmar Stadium Nagai ( ja, ヤンマースタジアム長居) for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium in Osaka, Japan. It is the home ground of J. League club Cerezo Osaka. The stadium has a seating capacity of 47,000. History When N ...

. The final was played at

Ajinomoto Stadium , also known as Tokyo Stadium in AFC Champions League, is a multi-purpose stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, Japan. The stadium was founded at Kantō Mura, the redevelopment area formerly used by United States Forces Japan, in March 2001. It was the fi ...

, Tokyo on 1 January 2016 and saw Gamba triumph 2–1 against the

to retain the trophy.

Match day line-ups

The following players appeared for Gamba Osaka during the 2015 Emperor's Cup: = Substitute on, = Substitute Off, = Number of goals scored,

= Yellow Card and

= Red Card.

Squad statistics

''Statistics accurate as of match played 1 January 2016.'' ¹ Includes 2015 J1 League Championship,

and 2015 Suruga Bank Championship appearances.

References

{{2015 in Japanese football

Gamba Osaka seasons