2019 Vissel Kobe season

The 2019 Vissel Kobe season was Vissel Kobe's sixth consecutive season in the J1 League following promotion to the top flight in 2013 and their 21st J1 League season overall. The club also participated in the 2019 Emperor's Cup, the 2019 J.League Cup. Vissel Kobe defeated Kashima Antlers in the final of the Emperor's Cup on 1 January 2020, winning a major trophy for the first time in the club's history.^[5][6]

Vissel Kobe

2019 season
Chairman	Katsuhiro Shimizu
Manager	Juan Manuel Lillo (until 28 April)[1] Takayuki Yoshida (until 8 June)[2] Thorsten Fink[3]
Ground	Noevir Stadium Kobe Kobe, Japan (Capacity: 30,134)
J1 League	8th
Emperor's Cup	Winners
J. League Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: David Villa (13) All: David Villa (13)
Highest home attendance	25,929 (vs. Kawasaki Frontale, 28 April 2019, J1 League)[4]
Lowest home attendance	3,222 (vs. Kitakyushu, 3 June 2019, J.League Cup)[4]
Average home league attendance	21,491
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2018 2020 →

Squad

As of 20 August 2019^[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  JPN Daiya Maekawa 2 DF  JPN Daisuke Nasu 3 DF  JPN Hirofumi Watanabe 4 DF  BEL Thomas Vermaelen 5 MF  JPN Hotaru Yamaguchi 6 MF  ESP Sergi Samper 7 FW  ESP David Villa 8 MF  ESP Andrés Iniesta (Captain) 9 FW  JPN Noriaki Fujimoto 10 FW  GER Lukas Podolski 13 FW  JPN Keijiro Ogawa 16 FW  JPN Kyogo Furuhashi 17 FW  BRA Wellington 18 GK  JPN Hiroki Iikura 19 DF  JPN Ryo Hatsuse 20 MF  JPN Asahi Masuyama 21 FW  JPN Junya Tanaka

No. Pos. Nation Player 22 DF  JPN Daigo Nishi 24 DF  JPN Gōtoku Sakai 25 DF  JPN Leo Osaki 27 MF  JPN Yuta Goke 28 GK  JPN Kenshin Yoshimaru 29 GK  JPN Kota Ogi 30 GK  JPN Genta Ito 31 MF  JPN Yuya Nakasaka 32 DF  JPN Wataru Hashimoto 33 DF  BRA Dankler 34 DF  JPN So Fujitani 35 MF  JPN Takuya Yasui 38 MF  JPN Daiju Sasaki 39 DF  JPN Tetsushi Yamakawa (designated special player) 41 FW  JPN Yutaro Oda (Type 2 Player) 42 MF  JPN Kakeru Yamauchi (Type 2 Player) 44 DF  LBN Joan Oumari

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  JPN Yuki Kobayashi (at FC Machida Zelvia) — DF  JPN Daiki Miya (at Mito Hollyhock) — MF  JPN Masatoshi Mihara (at Kashiwa Reysol)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  JPN Tatsuki Noda (at Kataller Toyama) — FW  JPN Mike Havenaar (at Bangkok United) — FW  JPN Akito Mukai (at FC Imabari)

Competitions

J. League

Main article: 2019 J1 League

Tables

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
6	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	34	15	10	9	45	29	+16	55
7	Gamba Osaka	34	12	11	11	54	48	+6	47
8	Vissel Kobe	34	14	5	15	61	59	+2	47	Qualification for the Champions League group stage[a]
9	Oita Trinita	34	12	11	11	35	35	0	47
10	Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo	34	13	7	14	54	49	+5	46

Source: Meiji Yasuda J1 League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.
Notes:

1. Vissel Kobe qualified for the 2020 AFC Champions League group stage as 2019 Emperor's Cup winners.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	14	5	15	61	59	+2	47	8	3	6	34	26	+8	6	2	9	27	33	−6

Last updated: 7 December 2019.
Source: see below

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	W	W	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	W	D	W	D	W	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	W	W	W
Position	16	9	5	6	4	7	10	11	12	13	13	15	13	13	11	13	11	13	15	15	15	15	15	12	12	9	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	8

Updated to match(es) played on 7 December 2019. Source: See Below
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Emperor's Cup

Main article: 2019 Emperor's Cup

Knockout stage

Vissel Kobe v Giravanz Kitakyushu

3 July 2019 Second round	Vissel Kobe	4–0	Giravanz Kitakyushu	Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe
19:00		Report

Vissel Kobe v Omiya Ardija

14 August 2019 Third round	Vissel Kobe	4–0	Omiya Ardija	NACK5 Stadium, Saitama
19:00		Report

Vissel Kobe v Kawasaki Frontale

18 September 2019 Fourth round	Vissel Kobe	3–2	Kawasaki Frontale	Kobe Universiade Memorial Stadium, Kobe
19:00		Report

Vissel Kobe v Oita Trinita

23 October 2019 Quarter-final	Vissel Kobe	1–0	Oita Trinita	Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe
19:00		Report		Referee: Yuichi Nishimura

Vissel Kobe v Shimizu S-Pulse

21 December 2019 Semi-final	Vissel Kobe	3–1	Shimizu S-Pulse	Noevir Stadium Kobe, Kobe
14:05		Report		Attendance: 22,341 Referee: H. Kimura

Final

The final was played on 1 January 2020 at the newly-rebuilt National Stadium in Tokyo.

Vissel Kobe v Kashima Antlers

1 January 2020	Vissel Kobe	2–0	Kashima Antlers	National Stadium, Tokyo
14:35	Inukai 18' (o.g.) Fujimoto 38'	Report		Attendance: 57,597 Referee: Ryuji Sato

J.League Cup

Main article: 2019 J.League Cup

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts		CER	GRA	TRI	VIS
1	Cerezo Osaka	6	3	2	1	9	4	+5	11		—	3–0	2–0	1–0
2	Nagoya Grampus	6	2	3	1	11	11	0	9		2–2	—	2–1	2–2
3	Oita Trinita	6	2	1	3	7	10	−3	7		2–1	2–2	—	2–1
4	Vissel Kobe	6	1	2	3	6	8	−2	5		0–0	1–3	2–0	—

Source: League table, Match results

Notes