Head Coach Poyatos: "I think it was a really tough and difficult match. In the first half, we respected each other and kept each other in check, but we made one error on our side, and we wanted to hold on from there in the first half, but I think it was also mental. There were some parts where we couldn't hold on, like the sending off, but I thought that it was a typical Hiroshima performance. In the second half, we reorganized the game well, and since we didn't want to be pushed by the opponent's wingbacks, we went with three players to control the game. We also placed fast players up front, knowing that a scoring opportunity would come while we were putting in crosses. We also had the intention of putting (Ichimori) Jun in the corner of the three (for the build-up), and putting Shinnosuke NAKATANI and Fukuoka in the midfielder position to push the opponent back more. I think we were able to dominate the game well, and although this loss is a very disappointing loss, we want to be proud of our players and are very proud of them."

Q: "In the second half, Gamba pushed so hard that it was hard to tell who was down a man. Not only did they improve their defense with a three-back or even five-back formation, but they also placed Kurata as the anchor, made the midfield into an inverted triangle, and placed Yamashita up front, which I think was effective. What was the aim of that?"
Head Coach Poyatos: "It was partly about positioning, but Hiroshima had the ball at first, but I think we were able to hold it firmly in the second half, even though we were one man down. As I said earlier, we had fast players up front, such as (Yamashita) Ryoya, (Kurokawa) Keisuke, and (Kishimoto) Takeru, who were positioned wide and could also make solid passes from there, so we wanted players with that kind of speed. For the build-up, we positioned Shu KURATA near the center backs, and had Shinnosuke NAKATANI and Shota FUKUOKA take responsibility for the build-up. I personally think that this worked well."

Q: I have a question about the three-back formation. You replaced Usami with Kishimoto, but if you were going to play with a three-back formation, you could have chosen Miura, but you put Handa in, and when you had the ball in an attacking situation, someone in the three-back formation was always going to be involved in the attack. Was there any instruction to play with someone in the three-back formation attacking at that point?
Head Coach Poyatos: "That's absolutely true."

Q: "I don't think that was the form you had practiced, what do you think?"
Head Coach Poyatos: "It's really difficult to practice when you've been sent off like this."