Gamba Osaka suffered a painful second consecutive defeat in the league last week against FC Tokyo, but their next match will come without any break.
Having won the ACL2 championship and secured their place in the ACLlite preliminary stage, Gamba Osaka will face Vietnamese team Cong An Hanoi in their first league stage match at Suita City Football Stadium.

"We want to use this as a good opportunity since the tournament is changing," said Captain Nakatani with conviction, while the experienced ACLElite player Hatsuse also expressed his determination, saying, "We just need to switch our focus to ACLElite and do our best. We want to put in one more burst of energy to overcome this situation." The match against Cong An Hanoi is a game they hope to use to build momentum for a comeback in the league match this weekend.

Gamba Osaka will be competing in the current ACL Elite format for the first time, but out of all 16 teams in Group EAST, 8 will advance to the knockout stage. It will be a long and arduous battle, but in any case, securing three points at home will be essential. Head Coach Myojin, who has experience reaching the top of Asia during his playing days, vows to win at all costs, saying, "In order to advance through the league stage, we will all work hard to aim for a win in our first home game."

The back-to-back matches, with 2nd year of junior high school days' rest following the FC Tokyo game, will be a total team effort, but it goes without saying that the return of players like Usami and MITO, who were part of the lineup for the FC Tokyo match, will be a tailwind for the team.
Just like in ACL Two, there are no easy matches in ACL Lite, as there are no registration limits for foreign players. Coach Myojin expressed confidence in the experience the team has gained in Asian competitions since last season, saying, "There are players with different characteristics than our usual opponents, including the Head Coach. However, the players have experience in ACL Two and the preliminary rounds, so I'm not particularly worried."

Abe is also wary of Cong An Hanoi, saying they "seem to launch fluid attacks as a team," but what Gamba needs against any opponent is to utilize their inherent strengths: quick transitions between offense and defense and sharp vertical attacks.
As Abe also stated, "With talent in every position, rather than focusing on any one player, we need to be wary of the individual strengths of the entire team," Cong An Hanoi, who won the domestic league in the 2025-26 season, also have experience in last season's ACL Two and are a team that should not be underestimated. In the preliminary stage, they defeated Adelaide United away 2-0, and they have FW to watch out for on both offense and defense, including striker Perea, who has national team experience Colombia at the U-20 level, Putros, who represented Iraq at the CONCACAF World Cup, and Nguyen Dinh Bach, a Vietnamese international who scored against Japan at the 2024 Asian Cup.

Abe, who will be a key player both offensively and defensively, revealed his true feelings, saying, "Since we're playing at home, I'm more focused on the result than the performance, and I absolutely want to win."
Gamba Osaka has returned to the pinnacle of Asian club football, and the time has come for them to start with a victory alongside their home supporters.