Head Coach Katanozaka: "Where should I start? First of all, we played against Urawa Reds Reds in the league away and somehow managed to grab three points, and we've been preparing to win the second match of the Levain Cup against Oita again today, which is also away, so we've been trying to go back to Osaka with a win. Of course, it's a series of games, and we lost the opening match of the Levain Cup at home, so we have to somehow get points away, and we don't want to lose the momentum from the league game, so we wanted to play a game that we can win with all of our might, and we tried to play in that way today. Oita is taking on a new challenge with Head Coach Shimodaira, and they're playing very difficult games, and I know them well and have played against them. They're a Head Coach who prepares a lot of things even during the game, so I'm wondering how they'll fight. Oita, including the members, suspended their activities before the opening due to the COVID-19 situation, and then we played Kofu away, which was the second game of the last league match, and today's Levain Cup has only two days in between, so I was watching the game with the intention of what kind of members they would be and how they would prepare for us. In my conclusion, regarding today's game, we tried to prevent Oita from playing freely with 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, and 4-4-2 defense against their 4-3-3 attack, and we went in with the aim of stealing the ball from those positions and gaining the right to attack as much as possible to score first. Unfortunately, we couldn't score the first goal, conceding a goal from a corner kick from a set piece, and even after we tied the score, we ended up with an undesirable penalty kick on a counter attack, so we ended the first half at 1-2, and in the second half, we had to bounce back and try to score, so we made two substitutions and tried to challenge. We had a chance to score a third goal after the score was tied, but we couldn't convert the chances and the game ended in a draw, so I still feel like I wanted to win. However, one point away is not a bad result, and we want to continue to fight well in the remaining four games to get through the group stage of the Levain Cup and get closer to the title. On a personal note, today was my first time playing away at the Showa Denko Dome, and when I first came in, the locker entrance was on the right instead of the left, and the bench was on the right instead of the left, so it felt really strange. It's been about four months since I last played here, so I felt nostalgic about the atmosphere. Looking at the roster, I knew every single player, so I knew the characteristics of the opposing players very well, and both captains were named "Yuuki," so I don't know how Yuki KOBAYASHI responded when I called out Yuki YAMAMOTO , but I think it was a game with a lot going on. I wish we could have given them three points with so many Gamba supporters coming to support us, but I don't think it was a bad game or a bad performance. I think we played a game that will lead to the Kawasaki F match, and personally I know a lot of Oita's players and staff, and after all, I demoted them to J2 last season, they set a goal of returning to J1 in one year, and I think they are a team that can really achieve that, and I think they have a Head Coach and players who can do that. I have high expectations from behind the scenes, and I am cheering for them. I am looking forward to playing against Oita again at our home stadium, and until then, I will work hard to prepare so that GAMBA OSAKA can improve their level even further and create a team that can improve its accuracy even more, so that we can play a good game in the next Kawasaki F match.

Q: "Today was the first time that Saito and Sakamoto were used, so please tell us your intention in using them at this time."
Head Coach Katanozaka: "Mitsuki SAITO joined us this season and played in Russia, so first of all, he had a quarantine period (after returning to Japan), and then he had a slight injury from last season, so he was not in good condition, but he struggled to get in shape and somehow managed to get on the pitch today. I personally wanted him to be on the pitch as soon as possible and play for Gamba, but I was considering the timing of using him while assessing the situation. And today, he was finally able to play in that situation, so I had him play in his favorite position as a defensive midfielder. I think he took on a lot of challenges, even though he has only just joined, with his characteristic ball-winning and carrying skills. Also, Isa SAKAMOTO is a player who is very good at speed and getting through the back in the front line, and Oita will probably be aggressive in defense with four defenders, so I expect him to turn the game around and, watching him in practice, he is calm in front of the goal, so I think he will produce concrete results in that area. He pressed very well when we scored the first goal, and he always plays with intensity in those situations, so I had high expectations of him, and even though he's young, he was very aggressive, so I gave him a chance to try, even though he was substituted in the first half. I think he still had chances to score, and I hope he will face his own challenges and try to contribute to the defense in those situations, including in the Levain Cup and league games.

Q: "As you said earlier, Head Coach is a team you know well, and is well known. Did that make it difficult to play against them? Or were there other feelings you had?"
Head Coach Katanozaka: "It wasn't difficult to fight. The reason is that I've only been able to see the type of football Oita plays this season, in the Kofu match, but I read in articles and other information that they play with a 4-3-3 formation, so I thought that if we could switch from good defense to good offense as a challenge, we might be able to surpass them in that way, and since we were in a situation where we could clearly play defense and offense, we might have been able to do better if we had had a week to prepare a little longer, but the fact that our players were able to do this well with only about a day to prepare shows that they have great potential and a high level of tactical understanding. I think that it's about the details, and we talked about it in the locker room, but it's about how much we can work on the details, and if we can use 3-4-3, 4-4-2, and 4-2-3-1 together, I feel that the range of our tactics and the range of our team's strength will be broadened."

Q: You mentioned earlier that you were going for a defensive strategy, but I think that hitting Yamamoto with Kobayashi was a key point. I think that you made small adjustments throughout the match, but what were the key points?
Head Coach Katanozaka: "As you said, if Yuki KOBAYASHI's anchor position is left free and the ball is carried, we will be pushed back, and the team is very good at building up the play, including the GK. However, today we had (Nishikawa) Konosuke as GK, and the two center backs were different members from the last league match, so I told the players that it was important to apply a little pressure in those areas and to block Yuki KOBAYASHI, and by doing that, we were able to challenge ourselves to defend within the limits of what we expected to be open."

Q: "In attack, when Kagawa was particularly in the middle, Yanagisawa was able to move up and do a good job, but was that something you had anticipated and calculated?"
Head Coach: "Yes, in terms of attacks, I was thinking that the players who would take the width would probably be the WG or the SB, and the other would take the inside. If the SB goes that high, there will be only two CBs left behind, so space will be created, and I was aiming for Yanagisawa's speed and running up, and attacks from the side."