Krishna Sadhana
Football Tribe Asia
Yet Another Tense Osaka Derby Awaits
Match week 27 of the J-League 1 kicks off this weekend with a huge clash between city rivals Cerezo Osaka and Gamba Osaka. Kicking off on Saturday, 2 pm JST at Cerezo’s Nagai Stadium, this edition of the Osaka Derby promises to be yet another exciting chapter in this intense inter-city rivalry considering the stakes at hand. Cerezo, 6th in the league, are only five points off Yokohama F-Marinos in third place and are looking for a result to keep their hunt for that third and final AFC Champions League spot well and truly alive. The stakes are even higher for Gamba, who are 12th in the league with only four points separating them from the relegation play-off zone, the blue-and-blacks are looking for three important points to pull themselves away from the intense relegation battle around them.
However, history is firmly on Gamba’s side – they haven’t lost a league Osaka derby for 8 consecutive games, with Cerezo’s last league win over their city rivals coming in 2012. The side from Suita also won their latest encounter with their rivals in pink, a 1-0 win at the Panasonic Stadium Suita on match week 12. With this in mind, Gamba should be confident of getting a result off their high-flying neighbors.
Beware of the ACL Hangover, Urawa!
Fresh from disposing of Shanghai SIPG in the AFC Champions League quarterfinals, Urawa Red Diamonds turned their attention back to league play for a vital relegation six-pointer against Sagan Tosu. The two sides are only four points apart with Urawa on 15th and Sagan in the relegation play-off zone on 16th, so this match is indeed a crunch tie for both sides’ survival hopes. Hosting the Kyushu side at the Saitama Stadium 2002 on Saturday, 2pm JST, Urawa know that they must win this match if they wanted to boost their survival chances. However, Sagan also know that Urawa’s recent continental exploits would severely tire them, and they visit Saitama confident enough that they can take advantage of Urawa’s ACL commitments to close the gap between them and their opponents on the table.
The Title Race Continues
With their hopes of running away with the J1 title dashed last week at the hands of their closest rivals, FC Tokyo need a win against relegation-threatened Matsumoto Yamaga on Sunday, to keep their title hopes well and truly alive. Matsumoto are winless in their last 2 matches and host the leaders at the Sunpro Alwin Stadium with hopes of not only putting a dent into FC Tokyo’s title chances but also boosting their ever-dwindling survival hopes. FC Tokyo manager Kenta Hasegawa should tread this match with caution, as Matsumoto have a knack of taking scalps off more established teams this season, with the likes of Urawa Reds, Vissel Kobe, and Nagoya Grampus already being beaten by the green side of Nagano.