Matsumoto Yamaga were relegated last season. Here’s what they’ll be wearing in J2. Green home, white away, red and blue are the ‘keepers’ gear!

Graphic for Shimizu S-Pulse home shirt for their J2 season in 2016.

And S-Pulse neighbours Jubilo Iwata, who have switched places with them in J1 for 2016.

Vissel Kobe home and away, with a special close-up on their home shirt, too.

Kawasaki Frontale 2016 20th Anniversary “Gremio” shirt!

Kawasaki Frontale Home, away, “cup” shirts

V-Varen Nagasaki home (orange) and away

Yokohama F•Marinos home (blue), away (pink) and three cool GK shirts

Albirex Niigata home (orange) and away

Ventforet Kofu home (blue) and away

Kashiwa Reysol home (yellow) and blue GK shirt

Urawa Reds

Thespakusatsu Gunma home (blue away (white) and two GK shirts

FC Tokyo home / away authentic version

Nagoya Grampus home and away

Kashima Antlers home (red) and away

Fujieda MYFC home

Nara Club (JFL), home, away, GK

Montedio Yamagata away

Mito HollyHock home (blue) and away

Zweigen Kanazawa home

At the bottom of J1, S-Pulse are down, and Montedio are all but gone, but mathematically in with a chance of survival as I write. Again, worth noting just in case there is any confusion, the relegation places are decided on the overall season/two stages combined table. Matsumoto Yamaga need to make up five points on Vissel Kobe, or six on Sagan or Albirex to reach safety. A tall order, right?

At the top of J2, Omiya Ardija appeared to have the Championship sewn up weeks ago but are now doing their best to lose it. Jubilo are just two points clear of Avispa Fukuoka with the top two going up to J1 without a play-off fight. Fukuoka seem to be the favourites of many now, while Cerezo Osaka have faded away in the last few games although are still well withing the play-off spots.

The play-offs will be 3rd-placed team v 6th placed, and 4th v 5th, over two legs, with a final play-off for a spot in J1 between the winners of those two ties.

Verdy have dropped a few points recently, while Ehime have also flirted with that 6th spot. Giravanz looked good for the play-offs earlier in the season but are not five points away, while the unlikely names of Roasso Kumamoto and Tokushima Vortis have risen into the frame, although it would be a huge surprise, but there are still 15 points to play for in five remaining games. Anythong COULD (and will?) happen.

At the bottom of J2 Tochigi are six points away from safely, although only two points away from earning a play-off spot – as opposed to straight relegation – against the 2nd placed J3 team. FC Gifu have flirted with wins but have dropped back into danger, just four points clear of Oita in that 2nd relegation (play-off) spot. With five matches to go Kyoto Sanga and Mito HollyHock are still well within reach of the lower teams, too.

At the top of J3 Yamaguchi Renofa are looking good for promotion as the Champions, while Machida Zelvia have pulled away from Nagano going for that play-off spot.

At the bottom of J3 we see the J.League Under 22 selection who, of course couldn’t be relegated anyway, although it seems will be replaced by an Under 19 team next season?! Fujieda MYFC are ten points clear of Y.S.C.C. although it should be noted that no teams will be relegated this season as the J3 expansion continues. With rumours of four (at least) “2nd XI” teams from J1 being added to J3 next season, including Gamba Osaka and Urawa Reds, interesting times are ahead! Not necessarily well-received times, though?!

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Matsumoto Yamaga v Urawa Reds 19.00

Yokohama F•Marinos v Montedio Yamagata 19.00

Kashiwa Reysol v Sagan Tosu 19.00

Kawasaki Frontake v FC Tokyo 18.30

Albirex Niigata v Kashima Antlers 19.00

Vegalta Sendai v Sanfrecce Hiroshima 18.00

Shimizu S-Pulse v Vissel Kobe 19.00

Gamba Osaka v Ventforet Kofu 19.00

Shonan Bellmare v Nagoya Grampus 18.00

On Tuesday (tonight, as I write), 2007 champions Urawa Reds are in dire straits at the bottom of Group G, with one point from four matches. Nothing short of a win at home to Suwon Samsung of Korea will give them ANY chance of progressing.
Suwon will be missing key defender Oh Beom Seok, who is suspended, while a familiar face to Japanese fans – Chong Tese – will be in the forward line for the Koreans.

Reds lost the away “leg” of this match 2-1 and will be hoping for a positive result this time.

Also on Tuesday, Kashima Antlers face Western Sydney Wanderers in Australia. After a victory over China’s Guangzhou Evergrande in their last match, Antlers are also in a must-win situation.

Western Sydney are the reigning ACL champions but have not shown championship form this season – at home, or in the ACL – if the Australians lose this one, they could be eliminated, depending on results elsewhere, and they will be missing suspended defender Antony Golec.

On the other hand, Antlers Samurai Blue defender Shoji Gen is also be suspended, but with an unbeaten run of four matches in J1.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Kashiwa Reysol are at home against yet another Korean club, Group D leaders, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. Reysol need only a draw to clinch a spot in the Last 16.

Finally, in Group F, Gamba Osaka travel to Guangzhou R&F having won their last match away at Buriram FC in Thailand to keep qualification hopes alive. That result put them only three points off the top two, but nothing less than a victory will be what the former champions from Osaka will be looking for.

Gamba will have Patric back from suspension and Takashi Usami is on a hot streak, helping his team’s to four straight wins.

Yasushi Endo (above) helped Antlers to the last-gasp away win to raise hopes of qualification!

Lins (below, right) finished with aplomb to give Gamba hope, while Koki Yonekura (above) supplied the one-touch volley cross to set up Keitaro Omori for Gamba’s winner.

Leandro was instrumental in Reysol’s goal-fest and could have won it for the away team near the end.

Tomoaki Makino (below) grabbed Reds’ goal but it was not enough for the win.

Pictures courtesy of World Sport Group

Below: all the results from Matchday 4 in the ACL Group stage.

Graphic from the-afc.com

I say “relief” as, according to the rules in many leagues around the world the Football Associations state that if action was taken by the referee for the original offence it should be taken as “done, and no further action can be taken.  Many in the game wondered if anything else could be done to punish the player.

I suggested on Twitter that the referee had not seen the offence and had actually given the yellow card for the original foul that had forced Kanazaki to the floor. This was, indeed, the case after the J.League announced the suspension – that will take in two J.League games and two Nabisco Cup matches – after it was decided that the referee had not seen the incident and the card was “only” for the original foul, before the stamp took place.

Sagan Tosu issued an apology to Kashima Antlers, to the player himself, and to the J.League.

Sagan Tosu’s sometime national team goalkeeper Akihiro Hayashi condemned the action by his team mate, saying he never wanted to see anything like that on a football field but also expressed dismay at the anti-South Korean comments.

So… justice done? Or too lenient? You decide! One thing is for sure, an inch or two either way and there could have been some very serious damage to Kanazaki’s eyes or mouth … both the “victim” and perpetrator can consider themselves lucky this incident did not turn out much worse.

Let’s hope we do not see anything like this on a Japanese football field again!

Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande face Kashima Antlers in the AFC Champions League on the same night,  with the former winners looking to cement their place in the knockout stage, while the J.League side are under pressure to claim their first points of the campaign in Group H.

Following their action-packed encounter last month in southern China as Guangzhou edged a seven-goal thriller to maintain their 100% record, the 2013 champions are currently five points clear of defending champions Western Sydney Wanderers of Australia and 2013 runners-up FC Seoul.

Kashima, though, are a further four points off the pace after also losing to Western Sydney and FC Seoul and Toninho Cerezo’s side are in danger of missing out on securing a place in the last 16 for the first time since 2011.

“Although we lost the game, we were able to give a good match and play beautiful football. This is the charm of the sport: even if you don’t win you can give good matches,” said Cerezo following the 4-3 defeat in China a fortnight ago. Our pictures show Mu Kanazaki (above) and Gaku Shibasaki (below).

“I didn’t see any big differences between my players and the Guangzhou players. We just couldn’t convert our chances into goals so we may need some good strikers.”

Also in Group H, Western Sydney entertain FC Seoul after the pair shared a goalless draw in Korea Republic a fortnight ago.

In Group F, bottom side Gamba Osaka will take on undefeated leaders Buriram United of Thailand, with the Japanese champions needing to secure maximum points to claw back some of the six point margin that separates the two sides.

Having only scored once in their three group matches this season, former champions Gamba are further hampered by the suspension of Brazilian forward Patric (pictured above), a pivotal member of their treble-winning side in 2014.

On Wednesday night Kashiwa Reysol (above, Daisuke Suzuki in action) are away at Shandong Luneng, who they beat 201 two weeks ago, sitting atop the group with seven points – alongside Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors – while Urawa Reds (pictures below) – with no points to their name in Group G – entertain Beijing Guoan, who sit prettily on top of the group with maximum points after three matches.

Some teams may well have decided their fate by the end of this round. Or had their fate decided for them. Watch this space!

Images courtesy of World Sport Group

On paper, it would seem that this has not been the most inspirational of transfer windows for Kashima Antlers. Unlike some of the other clubs that are likely to be gunning for the title this season, Antlers have again been pretty prudent with their spending
and appear to be continuing their recent policy of promoting from their youth ranks as opposed to splashing out on established ‘stars’. This season sees midfielder Hisashi Ohashi and forward Yuma Suzuki step up to the first team, while midfielder Kazune Kubota joins the club from high school. 26-year-old Korean Hwang Seok-Ho, who arrives from Sanfrecce Hiroshima adds an extra defensive option, and the acquisition of forward Hiroyuki Takasaki – who proved to be something of a cult hero in 2014, netting an impressive seven goals for basement fodder Tokushima Vortis – is an interesting recruitment, to say the least.
In the dugout, Toninho Cerezo is joined by former Antlers striker and club legend Atsushi Yanagisawa offering assistance in a coaching capacity after calling time on his playing career at Vegalta Sendai at the end of last season.
Brazilian Jorge Wagner, once of Kashiwa Reysol, and fellow countryman Luis Alberto, both leave the club, as does defender Takanori Maeno, while former national team veteran Koji Nakata hangs up his boots.
So, as in 2014, Antlers boast a strong squad with a good blend of experience and youth. Arguably, they lack a forward who is likely to bang in 20 goals a season, but their strength in the wide areas, as well as in the middle of the park should compensate for that. Provided key players stay injury-free and the burden of ACL football does not prove too much of a distraction, there is no reason to think that they do not have what it takes to be in the mix at the end of the season.
On the other hand, showing consistency home and away could be a big issue. The contrast between performances in home games and matches played on the road has been something of an issue at various times over the past few seasons, and, with the bulk of the playing staff the same as in 2014, there is a danger that this year will not be any different. You can be pretty certain Antlers will be one of the better teams over the 34 games, but putting together a run of results to take take them into the end of season play-offs could be
problematic.

Influential players should include Caio, Yasushi Endo and Shoma Doi, but I see national team midfielder Gaku Shibasaki (pictured) as the key man, orchestrating the tempo of the game from deep with his splendid range of passing. Strongly tipped to be a key member for Japan at the next World Cup, and hailed by both former Samurai Blue boss Javier Aguirre and ex-Antlers coach Jorginho, there will no doubt be great interest in his progression this campaign.