Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
New coach Masanobu Matsunami has backed new charges Gamba Osaka to build on recent improvements against Uzbekistan champions Bunyodkor on Tuesday after the J.League side picked up their first point of the season at the weekend ahead of Tuesday's crucial meeting in the AFC Champions League.
Matsunami, who made 280 appearances for Gamba in a 13-year career before retiring in 2005, was appointed at the end of March 2012 after Gamba suffered five straight defeats in all competitions under Brazilian coach Jose Carlos Serrao.
But Gamba, who lost to Korea Republic's Pohang Steelers and Australia's Adelaide United in the AFC Champions League while also losing the first three games of the new domestic season, shared a 1-1 draw with Albirex Niigata in the J.league on Saturday as Matsunami made an instant impact.
"We haven't started well in the AFC Champions League this year, but we are at home this time and we will do our best to collect three points," said Matsunami, who has concerns over the availability of Brazilian striker Paulinho (Paulo Antonio de Oliveira).
"Since I arrived, I have been telling the players to concentrate more on scoring. Whoever we play, we should play our style to break down our opponents. We want to score more goals to improve our goal difference, but our priority is to win three points.
"We had better possession at the weekend and passed the ball well. If we can work more on the attacking element then we can improve our chances."
Bunyodkor have enjoyed a mixed start to their continental campaign, with the 2-0 win over Pohang in Korea two weeks ago following on from losing 2-1 at home to Adelaide on Matchday One.
"I am looking forward to the game. Gamba have lost the first two games in the AFC Champions League, but you never know what they will be like until you play them as they have a new manager," said Bunyodkor coach Mirdjalal Kasimov, who saw his side beat Nasaf 5-0 in the Uzbekistan Cup on Thursday thanks to a hat-trick from Anvarjon Soliev.
"We both have objectives to achieve, so this means that it will be a good game and we will do our best to win. We are looking to win, I am not thinking about a draw."
Both Gamba and Bunyodkor have lost to Adelaide in Group E, and the Reds take their 100% record to Korea to face an in-form Pohang, who have posted back-to-back wins in the K-League.
"It's a big game for us and we are looking to continue our results from the last two games in the AFC Champions League and get a win," said Adelaide coach Luciano Trani.
"We are expecting Pohang to come out and play and attacking game so we have to be strong from a defensive point of view. We have to understand they need to win to get to an equal amount of points to us, so you can see the expectations from them will be a lot more. But at the same time, we have got to see an opportunity for a result in certain areas of the game.
"Pohang has a number of quality players and we respect them as a side. Obvious they have had a couple of good wins of late and we will need to be on our game to get a result."
Ghana international Derek Asamoah has missed the last three games for Pohang, which have included wins over Sangju Sangmu and Chunnam Dragons in the K-League, and remains a doubt for coach Hwang Sun-hong.
"We beat Gamba but lost to Bunyodkor at home, so victory against Adelaide is a must for us if we wish to progress from the Group Stage," said Hwang.
"This is a must win match and we will field our strongest team.
"Adelaide are a very strong team with a strong defence and they are also good at counterattacking. We need to clever to get through their defence. Adelaide have a good balance and will test our players."