2021 J.League Cup

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2021 J.League Cup

2021 JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ
Country	Japan
Dates	2 March – 30 October
Teams	16 (group stage) 20 (total)
Matches played	64
Goals scored	160 (2.5 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Teruhito Nakagawa (4 goals)
← 2020 → All statistics correct as of 5 September 2021.

The 2021 J.League Cup, known as the 2021 J.League YBC Levain Cup (Japanese: 2021 JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ) for sponsorship reasons, is the 29th edition of J.League Cup, a Japanese association football cup competition. It began on 2 March 2021 and is scheduled to end on 30 October that year.^[1]

FC Tokyo is the cup holders, having won their third title.

Format[]

All 20 teams playing in the 2021 J1 League are participating. Four clubs involved in the 2021 AFC Champions League receive byes for the group and playoff stages. They were Kawasaki Frontale, Gamba Osaka, Nagoya Grampus, and Cerezo Osaka.

Sixteen teams played in the group stage. They were divided into four groups of four teams by their finish on the 2020 J1 and J2 Leagues (parenthesized below).

• Group A: Kashima Antlers (J1 5th), Consadole Sapporo (J1 12th), Sagan Tosu (J1 13th), Avispa Fukuoka (J2 2nd).
• Group B: FC Tokyo (J1 6th), Oita Trinita (J1 11th), Vissel Kobe (J1 14th), Tokushima Vortis (J2 1st).
• Group C: Kashiwa Reysol (J1 7th), Urawa Red Diamonds (J1 10th), Yokohama FC (J1 15th), Shonan Bellmare (J1 18th).
• Group D: Sanfrecce Hiroshima (J1 8th), Yokohama F. Marinos (J1 9th), Shimizu S-Pulse (J1 16th), Vegalta Sendai (J1 17th).

Schedule[]

Stage	Round	Date[1]
Group stage	Matchday 1	2–3 March 2021
	Matchday 2	27–28 March 2021
	Matchday 3	20–21 April 2021
	Matchday 4	28 April 2021
	Matchday 5	5 May 2021
	Matchday 6	19 May 2021
Play-off stage		2, 5, 6 June 2021 (first leg) 6, 13 June 2021 (second leg)
Prime stage
	Quarter-finals	1 September 2021 (first leg) 5 September 2021 (second leg)
	Semi-finals	6 October 2021 (first leg) 10 October 2021 (second leg)
	Final	30 October 2021

Group stage[]

Each group were played on a home-and-away round-robin basis. Each match were played in 90 minutes.

All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Tiebreakers[]

In the group stage, teams in a group were ranked by points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If the points were tied, the following tiebreakers were applied accordingly:

1. Points in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
2. Goal difference in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
3. Goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
4. Away goals scored in head-to-head matches among tied teams;
5. If more than two teams are tied, and applying all head-to-head criteria above remains a part of teams still tied, reapply the criteria above only for the tied teams.
6. Goal difference in all group matches;
7. Goals scored in all group matches;
8. Penalty shoot-out if only two teams are tied and they met in the last round of the group;
9. Fewer disciplinary points;
10. Drawing of lots.

Group A[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kashima Antlers	6	3	3	0	14	4	+10	12	Advanced to play-off stage
2	Consadole Sapporo	6	3	2	1	11	8	+3	11
3	Avispa Fukuoka	6	2	2	2	10	11	−1	8
4	Sagan Tosu	6	0	1	5	5	17	−12	1

Group B[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Tokyo	6	3	3	0	6	2	+4	12	Advanced to play-off stage
2	Vissel Kobe	6	2	2	2	6	4	+2	8
3	Oita Trinita	6	1	3	2	4	6	−2	6
4	Tokushima Vortis	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	5

Group C[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	2	3	1	7	5	+2	9	Advanced to play-off stage
2	Shonan Bellmare	6	1	5	0	4	3	+1	8
3	Yokohama FC	6	2	1	3	5	6	−1	7
4	Kashiwa Reysol	6	1	3	2	6	8	−2	6

Group D[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yokohama F. Marinos	6	4	2	0	17	4	+13	14	Advanced to play-off stage
2	Shimizu S-Pulse	6	2	2	2	7	8	−1	8
3	Vegalta Sendai	6	2	0	4	7	11	−4	6
4	Sanfrecce Hiroshima	6	1	2	3	3	11	−8	5

Play-off stage[]

Summary[]

The play-off stage was played as two-legged ties of two teams each. The away goals rule, an extra time (away goals rule not applied for the scores in the extra time), and a penalty shoot-out would have been used if needed.

The play-off stage was held over two legs; on 2, 5, and 6 June 2021 (first), and 6 and 13 June 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Shimizu S-Pulse	1–3	Kashima Antlers	0–1	1–2
FC Tokyo	4–2	Shonan Bellmare	0–1	4–1
Consadole Sapporo	4–2	Yokohama F. Marinos	1–1	3–1
Vissel Kobe	3–4	Urawa Red Diamonds	1–2	2–2

Matches[]

Kashima Antlers won 3–1 on aggregate.

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FC Tokyo won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Consadole Sapporo won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Urawa Red Diamonds won 4–3 on aggregate.

Prime stage (Knockout stage)[]

The prime stage (knockout stage) was played between four teams which won at the play-off stage and the four 2021 AFC Champions League participants entering the tournament at this stage. The prime stage is played as two-legged ties of two teams each. The away goals rule, an extra time (away goals rule not applied for the scores in the extra time), and a penalty shoot-out are used if needed.

The quarter-finals and the semi-finals are played as two-legged ties (same as the play-off stage). The final will be played as a single game.

Quarter-finals[]

Summary[]

The quarter-finals were held over two legs; on 1 (first) and 5 September 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Consadole Sapporo	2–3	FC Tokyo	2–1	0–2
Nagoya Grampus	4–0	Kashima Antlers	2–0	2–0
Cerezo Osaka	4–1	Gamba Osaka	0–1	4–0
Urawa Red Diamonds	4–4 (a)	Kawasaki Frontale	1–1	3–3

Matches[]

FC Tokyo won 3–2 on aggregate.

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Nagoya Grampus won 4–0 on aggregate.

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Cerezo Osaka won 4–1 on aggregate.

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4–4 on aggregate. Urawa Red Diamonds won on away goals.

Semi-finals[]

Summary[]

The semi-finals will be held over two legs; on 6 (first) and 10 October 2021 (second). All times listed are in Japan Standard Time (JST, UTC+9).

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Nagoya Grampus	v	FC Tokyo	6 Oct	10 Oct
Urawa Red Diamonds	v	Cerezo Osaka	6 Oct	10 Oct

Matches[]

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Final[]

Top scorers[]

As of 5 September 2021

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[2]
1	Teruhito Nakagawa	Yokohama F. Marinos	4
2	Hisashi Jogo	Avispa Fukuoka	3
	Kasper Junker	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Ryonosuke Kabayama	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Kota Mizunuma	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Douglas Oliveira	Consadole Sapporo
	Ado Onaiwu	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Takahiro Sekine	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Everaldo Stum	Kashima Antlers
10	Jun Amano	Yokohama F. Marinos	2
	Ryota Aoki	Consadole Sapporo
	Ryotaro Araki	Kashima Antlers
	Léo Ceará	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Douglas	Vissel Kobe
	Sho Inagaki	Nagoya Grampus
	Atsuki Ito	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Chihiro Kato	Vegalta Sendai
	Kléber	Yokohama FC
	Anderson Lopes	Consadole Sapporo
	John Mary	Avispa Fukuoka
	Ayub Masika	Vissel Kobe
	Kensuke Nagai	FC Tokyo
	Rodrigo	Kashiwa Reysol
	Ryōhei Shirasaki	Kashima Antlers
	Kenyu Sugimoto	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Ayase Ueda	Kashima Antlers
	Yosuke Yuzawa	Sagan Tosu

References[]

External links[]

• J.League official website