Gamba Osaka's relegation to the second division feels no less shocking now that the dust has settled, but after spending only five weeks of the season outside the bottom three, perhaps the writing was on the wall all along.
Gamba, J. League champions in 2005 and Asian Champions League winners three years later, fell through the trapdoor after a 2-1 defeat to Jubilo Iwata on Saturday, ending the club's unbroken top-flight record despite finishing the season as the division's top scorers. Relegation is a cruel turn of events for a team that had finished outside the top three only once in the previous eight campaigns, but in truth Gamba have contributed to their own downfall with a series of costly missteps.
First came the decision last winter to release not only manager Akira Nishino — who won every domestic trophy available during his decade in charge — but also a raft of players including South Korean striker Lee Keun Ho, who was last week named Asian player of the year after winning the ACL with Ulsan Hyundai. Strikers Leandro and Akihiro Ienaga gave Gamba a much-needed shot of quality when they arrived over the summer, but the team's defensive problems were never fully addressed and a final tally of 65 goals conceded tells its own story.