13 Japanese footballers played in Matchday 2 of the Champions League and the Europa League: Furuhashi scored, Kubo and Mitoma assisted

Matchday 2 of the Champions League and the Europa League took place this week, with a total of 13 Japanese players taking part.

Celtic hosted Lazio in Group E of the Champions League, which has the largest number of Japanese players. Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, and Reo Hatate of the home side and Daichi Kamada of the visiting team all started the match.

The Scottish champions were quick to pick up the pace from the outset and showed slick attacking combinations. Maeda received a pass from the back, cutting in sharply and passing accurately to the centre, where Matthew O’Riley took a direct through ball in the box and Furuhashi slotted home past the goalkeeper Ivan Provedel. The Japanese striker finally scored his first goal in his eighth Champions League game.

Lazio’s Kamada started for the first time in four games and, played at right inside half in a 4-3-3 formation. The Italian team equalised in the first half and eventually won the game with an added-time winner, but Kamada himself had limited influence, having few opportunities on the ball. It could take more time for him to fully fit into the team.

In another Group E game, Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda was given his first Champions League appearance for the match against Atlético Madrid in Spain.

Kyogo Furuhashi and Ayase Ueda competes for the spot in the national team

In the first half, the Japanese striker reacted sharply behind the back line to Quinten Timber’s vertical pass and shot with his left foot, and the reflection from Jan Oblak bounced off Mario Hermoso into the back of the net. The record was an own goal, but it was worthy of Ueda’s goal. Despite losing the match 2-3 to Atlético, Ueda, who stayed on the pitch until the 60th minute, put in a decent performance as a centre-forward, showing speed, strength, and attacking threat.

Furuhashi and Ueda are rivals in the national team, with the former starting against Turkey on 12 September and the latter being given the role against Germany on 9 September.

In Group D, Real Sociedad visited Salzburg and Takefusa Kubo started on the right wing of the Spanish side as usual. Pressing from the up-front and creating chances, Kubo kept showing good performances based on top phisical condition. After leading by a goal from Mikel Oyarzabal, the 22-year-old Japanese left-footed attacker linked up with Brais Méndez to set up a counter-attack, which was eventually completed by Méndez. Kubo registered his first assist in the Champions League and continued to create chances after that until the 63rd minute to be pulled off to the bench.

Arsenal visited RC Lens in Group B, in which Takehiro Tomiyasu, who’s started only once in this season of the Premier League, was selected in the starting lineup at right-back. Although he shot sharply after a corner kick, Arsenal lost 2-1 with a mistake by goalkeeper David Raya.

In addition to these seven players, Celtic’s Tomoki Iwata and Benfica’s Leo Kokubo were on the bench for the whole match.

Japan’s captain Wataru Endo started again in the Europa League game

In the Europa League, six Japanese players were on the pitch.

Freiburg’s Ritsu Doan came on at the start of the second half against West Ham and immediately made an impact. He led Roland Sallai’s equaliser in the 48th minute, but the German side lost 2-1 in the end. Doan, who had been omitted from the Japan squad due to a condition problem, played a lively 45 minutes.

Kaoru Mitoma, meanwhile, traveled to Marseille to start and played a full part for Brighton, who had only managed one win out of four since losing 3-2 to AEK Athens in the previous matchday. Not finding their rhythm again, the English side were down to 0-2 in the first half. Brighton pulled one back in the 54th minute when Mitoma turned and assisted Pascal Gross’s goal after a breakthrough by right-back Tariq Lamptey. In the closing minutes, Lamptey gained a penalty kick, and João Pedro found the back of the net from the spot.

Japan’s central midfielder pair Hidemasa Morita and Wataru Endo both started for Sporting and Liverpool respectively. Despite Sporting’s home defeat to Atalanta by a 2-1 score line, Morita played full minutes as the central midfielder in the 3-4-3, steering the team to the end.

In Liverpool’s home game against Union St. Gilloise, Endo anchored in the midfield in Anfield and Koki Machida also started as left centre-back for the Belgium side. Endo was replaced by Alexis Mac Allister at half-time but showed some forwarding feed in a game dominated by the home side. Jurgen Klopp explained afterward that the three changes of Salah, Darwin Núñez, and Endo at half-time was his plan, and Endo could have a chance to start the next match.

Machida has shown not only strength at duel but also attacking ability in this season of Belgium league this season. At Anfield, he confronted Salah, experiencing the world’s best first-hand in his Europa League debut.

Servette’s Keigo Tsunemoto, who was a team-mate of Machida at Kashima Antlers, played a full part at right-back against Roma. This was also his debut in the Europa League, but his Swiss side lost by 4-0. Though the level was different from their domestic league and they were dominated by the Italian team, Tsunemoto tried to make a difference by crossing the ball several times.

Of the 13 Japanese who played in either competition, 10 – excluding Doan, Kamada, and Tsunemoto – have been selected for the international friendly matches against Canada on 13 and Tunisia on 17 October.