After more than 120 minutes of fierce fighting, Gamba tenaciously grabbed a ticket to the EMPEROR'S CUP final. About two weeks after the heated match that erupted at Panasonic Stadium Suita, Gamba returns to the battlefield.
"It was a very difficult game but I'm proud of my team," said Head Coach Poyatos, praising his players, but he is now turning his attention to the next challenge.
"We want to forget about the EMPEROR'S CUP for now and give our all in the match against Iwata, so that we can move as far up the table as possible,"Head Coach Poyatos.

After the dramatic win against Sapporo, Gamba won two league matches and drew one. Although they are currently in 5th place, they are only 3 points behind Machida in 3rd place, so they will face Iwata with a chance of finishing in the top ranks.
Nakatani also expressed the team's thoughts, saying, "There is still a chance we can aim for the ACL in the league, so the Head Coach told us to go all out to achieve that, and we would like to finish the season in the higher ranks."
The team has now won three official matches at Panasonic Stadium Suita, each time winning shootouts. "We've become a team that never gives up and fights to the end," Usami proudly stated. Now is the time for the team to translate that competitive spirit into an away win, something they haven't achieved since their league match against Tosu on July 14.

The key is to "return to the basics," which has supported Gamba this season. Fukuoka said that although their backline has still conceded the fewest goals in the league along with Machida, "we've been conceding a lot of goals in recent games, so we've gone back to basics and reexamined our frontline defense and our response to slides and crosses in the backline."

Iwata, who has played one game less, is currently in 18th place, within the relegation zone. With the support of their home fans, they will surely enter the game aggressively from the start. "It's important to start well in every game. It takes effort to regain momentum, so it's better for us to have momentum from the start," said Usami, who plans to switch on offense and defense in top gear from the start.

Iwata won the home game 2-1, but what's different now is that they've adopted a three-back formation. Iwata's back line is made up of highly skilled players, such as goalkeeper Kawashima and Ricardo Queiroz De Alencastro Graca(RICARDO GRACA) , who was a member of the Brazilian national team for the Tokyo Olympics, but GK 's front line has been able to score goals even when Usami has been playing the assisting role in recent games. With seven goals to his name, and double-digit goals in sight, expectations are high for Sakamoto to continue scoring in league games.
However, Iwata also has attackers in the front line who can pose a threat to Gamba with their individual abilities. "Whenever he faces forward, it's a chance, so it's important to not let him do the decisive work," said Ichimori, who is wary of Iwata's ace, Germain, who has conceded goals at home, but JORDY CROUX, who joined after the last match and is one of the two shadow players, is also an attacker to watch out for.
There are only three league games left. We will continue to play our must-win style and go for the win against Iwata.