Gamba suffered their first defeat in a 90-minute match since Head Coach Vissing took over, against Hiroshima. "After a tough week, the most important thing is recovery," the manager said, emphasizing both physical and mental recovery, but the players are already looking ahead to the next match.
Head Coach Vissing emphasized, "We want to be able to approach the Kobe match with full power again," and Higashiguchi, who has been on the pitch in every match during this series of games and has been supporting Gamba, spoke about the importance of the Kobe match immediately following the defeat: "This is where the team needs to show its strength. This is a match we absolutely cannot afford to lose."

Gamba Osaka has dropped to third place in the Meiji Yasuda J1 J.LEAGUE 100 YEAR VISION LEAGUE WEST, but they are only behind league leaders Kobe in goal difference, so a win in this match could give them a chance to reclaim the top spot.
"The challenge will be to keep them away from our goal," said Head Coach , describing the key point of the match.
Against Kobe, who are on a four-game winning streak in official matches, Gamba will take on the challenge head-on with the high-pressing tactics they have adopted this season.
The players have already learned a great deal from their defeat against Hiroshima. In the match against Hiroshima, manager Head Coach showed flexibility by adopting a strategy of positioning himself in a middle block and aiming for counterattacks, considering the 2nd year of junior high school day break between matches. However, aggressively trying to win the ball back remains Gamba's lifeline this season.

"No matter the situation, no matter how many consecutive matches we play, we all agreed that it's better to go high-pressing and bring out our strengths. If we get tired, we can just substitute," Abe emphasized.
"The opponent is a team that excels in one-on-one situations. It will be difficult to deal with them individually, so it is important to work together as a team in an organized manner" (Head Coach Vising). Rather than waiting in our own half, we want to win by taking the initiative in both offense and defense deep in the opponent's territory.

Meanwhile, Kobe secured a clean sheet victory against Nagoya in the previous match, scoring a season-high three goals. "Kobe is very precise, so it won't be an easy match, and we need to be careful of their three forwards," Higashiguchi said, expressing his caution. However, in the previous match, Komatsu, who played as the lone striker in place of Osako, scored for the second consecutive game, and former Gamba player Ideguchi also scored.

While attackers like Osako and Muto are certainly players to watch out for, the player to be particularly wary of is left-back Nagato, who scored one goal and provided one assist in the match against Nagoya.
While Kobe, under Head Coach Skibbe who took charge of the team this season, is showing a style of play that isn't solely reliant on long balls, Head Coach Vissing says, "We'll play our own style of football." Gamba will simply fight aggressively on both offense and defense.

For Hatsuse, who played for Kobe until the 2024 season, this is a match against his former club, but he declared Gamba's determination with these words:
"We have nothing to fear. We will beat Kobe and move up the ranks."
Gamba will continue to play away games, but as before, they will fight with all their might and secure victories.