Can Takefusa Kubo or any Japanese players in this season’s Champions League make bigger impacts than Shinji Kagawa or Shunsuke Nakamura in the competition?

There are a total of nine Japanese players taking part in this season’s Champions League group stage for six different teams, including Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu and Real Sociedad’s Takefusa Kubo.

The biggest Japanese contingent was found in Group E on matchday one, and although Feyenoord’s Ayase Ueda missed out on the squad for the match due to an injury sustained during the last international break, opponent Celtic started with Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda, and Reo Hatate, with Tomoki Iwata making an appearance off the bench. Yuki Kobayashi was left out of Celtic’s Champions League squad.

Daichi Kamada, who moved to Lazio in order to play in this season’s Champions League, started as a midfielder against Atlético Madrid and deflected the shot from Pablo Barios led to a goal for the Spanish side. Lazio got a point from a last time header from their Italian goalkeeper Ivan Provedel, and Kamada is expected to play a key role in helping his team challenge to progress from Group E, putting aside the unlucky miskick.

Benfica’s 22-year-old goalkeeper Leo Brian Kokubo was on the bench against Salzburg

In Group D, Real Sociedad’s Kubo finally made his Champions League debut. Maintaining the fine form he’d been showing in La Liga and for the Japan national team, he made his presence felt with several chances in the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan. Benfica’s 22-year-old goalkeeper Leo Brian Kokubo, who normally plays for the second team, was on the bench against Salzburg. With only young goalkeepers of his age in the first team, it will be interesting to see how he competes for chances in the future.

Arsenal’s Tomiyasu, who is in Group B, played from the middle of the second half against PSV Eindhoven and contributed to the 4-0 win by defending the lead.

Bayern’s Japanese young prospect: Taichi Fukui

In addition to the above six teams, Bayern München in Group A also has a Japanese prospect, Taichi Fukui, who made the bench against Leverkusen in the Bundesliga match on 15 September. After training at the academy of Sagan Tosu, he passed the trial for Bayern in January this year. He has been playing for Bayern II so far and was named in the first team squad list for the first time in an important match. The record for the youngest Japanese player to play in the tournament is 19 years and seven months, set by Takashi Usami, who also played in the tournament for Bayern.

By the way, who was the first Japanese player to play at the highest level of European football?

In 2001, Arsène Wenger signed Junichi Inamoto for Arsenal from Gamba Osaka, and although he played very little that season he made his Champions League debut and went on to score against Galatasaray in the 2006-07 season.

Before Inamoto’s goal, Shunsuke Nakamura had become the first Japanese player to score in the Champions League in his second season with Celtic after joining from Reggina in the summer of 2005. In 2006-07 season, he curled the ball into the goal from a set piece against Manchester United in the opening game of the group stage, and then return leg on home soil he shocked the world again with another beautiful free-kick, beating Edwin Van der Sar, one of the best Dutch goalkeepers of all time in his prime. Celtic’s close relationship with Japanese players had started with Nakamura.

However, if the Champions League’s predecessor, the European Cup, is included, then Yasuhiko Okudera was both the first Japanese player to play in and to score a goal in the competition. The left winger nicknamed “Oku” moved to Cologne and in his second season, 1978-79, he scored in the semi-final of the European Cup, missing out on a place in the final after defeat to Nottingham Forest. Even so, reaching the last four was the best result for a Japanese player until Takumi Minamino made it to the final in 2021-22 with Liverpool. Yasuhiko Okudera is currently senior advisor to the J1 side, Yokohama FC.

Shinji Kagawa and Atsuto Uchida are standing out

The two most successful Japanese players in the Champions League are Shinji Kagawa and Atsuto Uchida. The former scored four goals in 33 games for Borussia Dortmund and Manchester United, the highest total for a Japanese player. Even now, many Japanese fans can’t help but imagine what could have happened if Kagawa had stayed at Borussia Dortmund for the 2012-13 season. While Manchester United were in chaos that season when he moved to England, his former club made it to the Champions League final with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Mario Götze, and Marco Reus under Jurgen Klopp (eventually lost to Bayern Munchen).

Uchida, on the other hand, is slightly behind Kagawa in the results with one goal in 29 games (a decent record for a right back) for Schalke, but he did reach the knockout stage in all four seasons he has played in the tournament – including becoming the first Japanese player since Okudera to reach the semi final in the 2010-11 season.