During 2019, Shonan Bellmare maintained their J1 League status by the skin of their teeth. Having finished in the relegation playoff spot, Bellmare faced the J2 League’s Tokushima Vortis in the playoff game. Having gone a goal behind, an equaliser from Temma Matsuda proved to be the Hiratsuka club’s salvation...
Over the 2019 J1 League season, Urawa Red Diamonds had quite the year to forget as the club finished 14th in Japan’s top flight, just a point above Shonan Bellmare who finished in the relegation play-off spot. The season which saw Tsuyoshi Otsuki brought in part-way through was quite the...
Over the 2019 J1 League season, Yokohama F. Marinos’ undisputed star man throughout the title-winning campaign was that of Teruhito Nakagawa. The 27-year-old right-winger was voted as the league’s Most Valued Player (MVP) for the season to cement his position as a key player. With the Japanese forward having bagged...
In their opening fixture of the 2020 J1 League campaign, last season’s champions Yokohama F. Marinos fell to a surprising defeat against Gamba Osaka. There were glimpses of brilliance from the powerhouses of last year, however, it will be interesting to see if the side can re-find the form of...
Arguably, one of the most, if not the most, exciting young prospects currently housed in the J1 League is that of Cerezo Osaka’s Jun Nishikawa. The 18-year-old is currently situated in the scopes of some of Europe’s biggest names. RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan are all touted to...
Over the upcoming 2020 J1 League season, a side which will be interesting to observe is that which was promoted as J2 League runners up last season, Yokohama FC. Takahiro Shimotaira’s side picked up an impressive 79 points en route to their second-place finish and promotion in 2019. So, having...
One side that will be interesting to see how they perform over the course of the 2020 J1 League season is last season’s J2 League champions, Kashiwa Reysol. Having claimed the top spot in Japan’s second division over 2019 with an impressive 84 points, five points clear of Yokohama FC,...
During the 2019 J1 League season, Vissel Kobe fell some way short of expectations despite having a star-studded squad list. Despite boasting the talents of David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Lukas Podolski, amongst others, the side struggled to an eighth-place finish. The criticism that the whole was not greater than...
With the 2020 J1 League season being just one game old when the fixtures were postponed, Sanfrecce Hiroshima have remained the leaders of the pack on goal difference. After a 3-0 victory over Kashima Antlers in their opening game, Sanfrecce will remain top at least until play resumes. In that...
During the 2019 J1 League season, FC Tokyo came tantalisingly close to securing their first-ever league title. However, Kenta Hasegawa’s side just ran out of steam and Yokohama F. Marinos were able to finish with a six-point lead over the Tokyo club. This term, an opening day 3-1 victory over...
When the fixtures were released for the 2020 J1 League season, the 2019 champions, Yokohama F. Marinos, will have been one side that most would have been keen to avoid. However, it fell upon Gamba Osaka to travel to the Nissan Stadium for their opening game of the season. Having...
On Friday, the opening game of the 2020 J1 League season kicked off, with Shonan Bellmare hosting Urawa Reds. Having survived relegation by the skin of their teeth in 2019, after a relegation playoff against Tokushima Vortis, the hosts would have been hoping for a better start to the new...
During this period, the attention of many football fans being placed on the Tourmalet stage of English football and the return of several European leagues after a long winter break. But on the opposite side of the Earth, the first division of the Japanese league, commonly known as the J1...
