Approaching six years of life as a Football Manager, Robaato Rasamu was enjoying his first taste of continental football in his mission to win every top-tier continental club trophy. His Albirex Niigata side just wrapped up their best-ever league campaign and reached the knockout rounds of their maiden AFC Champions League campaign.
The big negative, however, was Rasamu’s third season at Niigata yet again began with the irritating Saudi clubs coming calling. For a third transfer window in a row, they smashed the record Japanese transfer fee as centre-back Yoshikazu Yoshida joined Al-Tai for £13.5m. They were also forced to sell star striker Takashi Wakabayashi for £10m to Al-Tai and centre-back Atsushi Ashino to Daegu for £6m.
Those sales gave Rasamu a £45m transfer budget he couldn’t dream of spending. But Yoshida was replaced by Australian centre-back Daniel Fitzgerald for £1.5m from Melbourne City and 5ft 5in Wakabayashi was replaced by 6ft 1in Portuguese attacker Henrique Quintaneiro for £1m from Penafiel. They also completed a £2.1m move for former loanee Kazumasa Moriya, signed left-back Rai Yamazaki for £4.5m from Kobe, centre-back Haruto Fujiki for £1.1m from Tokushima and another former loanee Yukio Nakayama for £750k from Urawa.
Rasamu stuck with his tried and tested 4-2-3-1 approach with Hideto Fukuyama and Quintaneiro interchangeable as the striker and right winger, Yamazaki at left-back and Fitzgerald and Fujiki the all-new centre-back pairing.
AFC Champions League Knockouts
Having progressed through the group, Niigata’s 2029 season kicked off with the second round of the AFC Champions League against Korean side Pohang. The home leg was up first and Niigata controlled the game and got their reward as Fitzgerald headed home on his debut. Fukuyama curled home a great effort but Pohang scored a completely undeserved consolation late on to make the return leg tricky. But they needn’t have worried as Mitsuaki Hara and striker Joao Costa ensured an easy 2-0 away win.
Next up was the quarter final, in which they were drawn against group opponents Suwon. The home leg was up first again and a new record crowd of 40,696 flocked to the Denka Big Swan Stadium to see it. Niigata had the best of the early stages and led through Hara’s neat finish but Suwon grew into the game, equalised just after the break and missed a few chances. And Hara made them pay with another smart finish to edge another 2-1 win.
Rasamu rested the first 11 for the league game between the two legs and they of course started the second terribly by conceding to Suwon’s first shot. Hara levelled up with a delicous 20-yard strike, pathetic defending gifted Suwon a second from their shot straight after time, but Hara swiftly created another equaliser for Quintaneiro. Niigata again dominated and finally made it count as Hattori scored from a clever short free-kick routine. Suwon offered nothing and Niigata were into the semis!
Niigata got the lucky side of the draw as they faced Rasamu’s hometown club and his father’s favourite club Nagoya, who were 8th in J1, while two Saudi sides Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal faced off in the other semi. This time, the away leg was first and it was a pretty terrible match. Neither side created anything until Niigata won a late throw-in, right-back Taiga Kanai put in a deep cross and substitute Moriya nodded it in unmarked at the back post to nick a 1-0 victory. The second leg was even worse with Niigata having more chances and Nagoya bossing the possession but neither side created anything and it drifted to a 0-0. So Niigata were into a maiden Champions League Final! But Niigata again broke their record attendance as 41,129 people turned up for the borefest.
J1 League Takes A Backseat
The Champions League very much took centre stage but Niigata also started J1 League pretty well. That included opening up with a 3-1 win over Fukuoka, Quintaneiro scoring twice in a 4-2 win over Kashiwa and a 3-1 win at champions Gamba, who’d started poorly. Rasamu had to rest players for the continental run, which saw a few points dropped, but a solid run after those commitments lifted them to 2nd halfway through the campaign.
They’d only lost twice and trailed leaders Kashima by six points with two games in hand. But they were definitely missing the goals of Wakabayashi as Quintaneiro and Fukuyama were nowhere near as lethal or consistent.
AFC Champions League Final
Rasamu felt he slightly fluked his way into the Champions League Final in his first continental campaign. And he was under no illusions about how tough it would be for his Niigata side to beat Al-Hilal over two legs (which seems a little silly for a continental final). The Saudi side has seven players who earn more than Niigata’s £240k weekly wage budget, including Theo Hernández earning a ludicrous £800k a week.
He spent a bit of time studying the Saudi club – including the fact they realistically only had seven good players and a few kids – and had a detailed discussion with his good friend and former Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu about how to deal with such big occasions.
The home leg was up first and it saw the first sellout of Rasamu’s time in management as a capacity 41,684 attendance showed up for the biggest game in Niigata history. The home side started brightly as Hara smashed a free kick against the bar on nine minutes. They made the breakthrough five minutes later as winger Naoki Hattori’s shot deflected off Dodo and were in dreamland another seven minutes later as Hattori blocked a clearance and it rebounded into the net. Al-Hilal got back into it with their first shot on target, which looked miles offside. And they equalised with their second shot on target as Hernández burst into the box and finished into the far corner. Niigata struggled to get going after that and it drifted to a 2-2 but Rasamu saw more than enough to be pleased about.
Al-Hilal started the second leg better and took advantage with an early goal (three goals from three shots on target). But Niigata stemmed the tide, turned the game in their favour and equalised through Kanai’s curled effort. The hosts scored early in the second half and looked to be easing to a win until Quintaneiro curled a great effort into the top corner from 25 yards. They held on and forced extra time but Al-Hilal again took the lead and this time there was no time to respond. But Rasamu couldn’t complain given Al-Hilal amassed 4.70 xG, goalkeeper Mitsutero Naruo had a blinder to keep them in it and his side racked up 18 shots and 2.02 xG themselves and bossed the possession again.
Niigata had massively overachieved in their first Champions League campaign, led by Hattori setting a new assists record with 10 and the tournament’s top scorer Wakabayashi (11). But they just didn’t quite have enough to see off a big-spending Saudi side over two legs.
Off the pitch, Rasamu bagged his Continental Pro Licence, which means that six years into his adventure, he now holds the highest possible coaching qualification. That sets him up for coaching opportunities anywhere he fancies working with a 3.5-star manager reputation, compared to Niigata’s 2.5-star reputation.
Could Niigata pick themselves up from the Champions League disappointment and challenge for a maiden J1 League title in the second half of the 2029 J1 League campaign? Join us on Monday to find out!
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