2016 Gamba Osaka season
Round Date Opponents H / A Result F-A Scorers Attendance
QF 31 August 2016 Sanfrecce Hiroshima A 1-1 Goya 86 ' 5,529
QF 4 September 2016 Sanfrecce Hiroshima H 6-3 Nagasawa 32 ' , 45'+2 , Niwa 55 ' , Ademilson 60 ' , 63 ' , Abe 71 ' 12,977
SF 5 October 2016 Yokohama F. Marinos H 0-0 11,160
SF 9 October 2016 Yokohama F. Marinos A 1-1 Endō 63 ' 19,378
F 15 October 2016 Urawa Red Diamonds N 1-1aet 4-5pens Ademilson 17 ' 51,248
J.League Cup
As a result of their qualification for the AFC Champions League , Gamba were given a bye into the quarter-finals of the League Cup , where they were paired against Sanfrecce Hiroshima in a two-legged encounter . A 1-1 draw in Hiroshima was followed by an emphatic 6-3 home win for Gamba which saw them qualify for the semi-finals and a tie against Yokohama F. Marinos in October . The first leg , held in Osaka , finished 0-0 and the second leg was also a draw , this time 1-1 which saw Gamba through on away goals and paved the way for a 3rd league cup final appearance in 3 years . The final was played against Urawa Red Diamonds at Saitama Stadium 2002 on Saturday 15 October 2016 . A solo run by Ademilson gave Gamba a first half lead which lasted until the 76th minute when Tadanari Lee 's header squared things up . Extra-time followed and Gamba came agonisingly close to netting the winner in the 120th minute when Hiroto Goya 's shot was deflected past the goalkeeper and onto the post , it then proceeded to roll along the goal line before being swept to safety by Urawa defender Ryota Moriwaki . It was perhaps an omen as following 3 successful penalty kicks for each side , Goya had his spot-kick saved by Shusaku Nishikawa . This proved to be the decisive miss as the Reds netted all of their penalties and went on to win the shootout 5-4 . This was Gamba 's 5th appearance in the J.League Cup final and their 3rd in as many years . To date they have lifted the trophy twice , in 2007 and 2014 with this defeat being their 3rd defeat in the final , following reverses in 2005 and 2015 .
The 2016 Gamba Osaka season was Gamba Osaka's 23rd season in the J1 League and 29th overall in the Japanese top flight. Like the previous season, the 2016 campaign was split into two stages, with the first stage running from February to June, the second stage being held between July and November and finally a Championship stage in late November. With city-rivals Cerezo Osaka failing to gain promotion from J2, Gamba's main rivalry match was the Hanshin derby against Vissel Kobe with an away game held in round 4 on the 19th March and the return home match in round 26 on August 20. Gamba finished in 6th place in the first stage of the season and 4th place in the second stage for an overall 4th-place finish. Gamba's position as runner-up in the 2015 J1 League Championship saw them automatically qualify for the 2016 AFC Champions League, their 8th appearance in the competition. Looking to improve on their run to the semi-finals in 2015, they were drawn into the tough looking Group G along with Australian side Melbourne Victory, South Korea's Suwon Samsung Bluewings and big-spending Chinese outfit Shanghai SIPG. The group stage kicked off on Wednesday 24 February and concluded on Tuesday 3 May with all sides in the group playing each other home and away in a round-robin basis. Gamba were eliminated at the group stage with only 2 points from 6 games to show for their efforts. As winners of the 2015 Emperor's Cup, Gamba competed in the season opening Japanese Super Cup, held in Yokohama on 20 February. The annually held match pitted Gamba against Sanfrecce Hiroshima, the side who defeated them in the final of the 2015 J1 League Championship. This was Gamba's 6th appearance in the Super Cup, however they were unable to build on their previous victories in 2007 and 2015 and went down 3-1. Trailing 2-0 due to early second half goals from Satō and Asano, top scorer of the previous 3 campaigns Takashi Usami pulled one back, however Utaka added a third for Hiroshima shortly afterwards to seal the win.