Osaka: Coach Kenta Hasegawa has confidently declared Japan’s Gamba Osaka will beat Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande in Wednesday’s AFC Champions League semi-final second leg at Expo ’70 Commemorative Stadium to earn a return to the continental final for the first time since 2008 despite needing to overturn a 2-1 deficit against a side unbeaten in all competitions since May.
Japanese treble winners Gamba opened the scoring in last month’s first leg at Tianhe Sport Centre Stadium courtesy of an own goal from Guangzhou defender Feng Xiaoting before eventually being pegged back through goals either side of half-time from midfield duo Huang Bowen and Zheng Zhi.
That leaves 2008 champions Gamba needing to end Guangzhou’s mammoth unbeaten run which now stands at five months at Expo ’70 Commemorative Stadium to secure Japanese representation in the final for the first time in seven years.
“We know that it will be a tough match, but we will go all out to beat Guangzhou and go to the final as we will play united as a team,” said Hasegawa, who saw Gamba record a morale-boosting 2-1 win over Urawa Red Diamonds on Saturday in the J.League.
“In the first leg we lost 2-1, so unless we win 1-0 or by a bigger margin than two goals, we cannot go to the next round. Guangzhou have a good transition between offence and defence and it will not be easy, but we have prepared well and the players are highly motivated.
“Guangzhou are a very united team and there is a good understanding between the Chinese players and the imported players. It will be a difficult match, but at the same time we have come this far and we have beaten other opponents in difficult situations like this so I feel we are capable.”
Gamba, who beat Korea Republic’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 3-2 at home in their quarter-final second leg courtesy of a stoppage time winner, are boosted by the return of defender Daiki Niwa after the centre-back missed last month’s defeat in China due to suspension.
“Daiki Niwa is a vocal player who plays with heart and we expect him to lead the defence,” added Hasegawa.
Captain Yasuhito Endo was part of the Gamba side who beat Australia’s Adelaide United 5-0 on aggregate in the 2008 AFC Champions League final, and the 35-year-old remains a central figure for the J.League side having inspired last season’s historic domestic treble.
“We lost in the first leg, but we will make sure we will produce a good result and go to the final with a win,” said Endo.
“We don’t have a detailed plan, but we need to at least score one goal to go to the next round. If we score we will look to defend, but if we concede the first goal, we will need to get two goals.
“We didn’t start well in the group stage, and against Jeonbuk we won the match with the last play, but we have come this far. We lost the first leg, but we got the away goal so we are positive about the game and we want to play with confidence.”
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