Gamba coach Nishino concerned by Adelaide's height

"At one of the press conferences, I said it was imperative that one of the Japanese teams become the champions, but I lied," said Gamba Osaka coach Akira Nishino to the Yomiuri Shimbun ahead of his side's AFC Champions League first leg final clash with Adelaide United.

"I know deep down inside it has to be Gamba." 

Gamba coach Nishino may have his wish come the end of the two-legged AFC Champions League final, but in the build-up to tonight's clash at Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka he has highlighted the different physiques of the two sides.

"I think it'll be them in the air, and us on the ground," Nishino told the Shimbun, and in a press conference ahead of the clash Nishino singled out Adelaide's defence - which houses 197cm Robert Cornthwaite and 195cm Sasa Ognenovski - as one of the keys to the clash.

Their height could nullify the attacking threat of full-backs Akira Kaji and Michihiro Yasuda, who are unlikely to bomb forward and rain in crosses with Gamba relatively weak in the air in the final third of the pitch. 

Instead Gamba will rely on talismanic midfielder Yasuhito Endo to drive the team forward with his short passing game and Gamba's strikers will expect to do plenty of off-the-ball running as Endo looks to slip incisive balls in behind the defence.

Nishino expects Adelaide to play for a draw at Banpaku, but United coach Aurelio Vidmar is likely to field goalkeeper Eugene Galekovic and midfielder Diego, despite both going into this clash under serious injury clouds. 

With the first of the winter winds having hit Japan temperatures are slowly dropping across the country, with this match expected to be played under cloudy skies and a temperature of around 15°C in the west of Japan.