China's Guangzhou wary of Japanese 'Gamba Style'

(Reuters) - Wary Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande know nothing less than victory is required from Wednesday's AFC Champions League semi-final against second leg specialists Gamba Osaka. The Japanese, playing their self proclaimed 'Gamba Style', have advanced to the last four by beating two South Korean teams -- Jeonbuk Motors and FC Seoul -- 3-2 at home in the second leg and are eyeing a hat-trick having again been drawn away first. Guangzhou boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, whose side knocked out Kashiwa Reysol in the last eight, wanted to ensure the 2013 champions had a decent lead to take to Japan next month to avoid suffering a similar fate as the Korean clubs. "Every second on the field is going to be important in the game on Wednesday," the Brazilian World Cup-winning coach said after a 3-2 win over Guizhou Renhe in the Chinese Super League on Saturday edged them closer to a fifth title. "We have to try to avoid conceding a goal and ensure we play the second leg with a larger advantage. Gamba are a tough team, their manager Kenta Hasegawa has his own style, and anything can happen in football. "The team has confidence, though, and the mood amongst the players is great. We are determined not to let our fans down in the coming match." Gamba will welcome back forward Takashi Usami for Wednesday's clash after the former Bayern Munich attacker missed the dramatic last gasp 3-2 win over Jeonbuk in the quarter-finals. Usami has four goals in the ACL this year for the 2008 champions, the last Japanese winners of the continental trophy, and also completed the scoring in Saturday's 3-1 win over Kashiwa Reysol in the J-League to extend their unbeaten run to nine games. "Takashi for sure will play, and will play well, and we also had lots of great performances from the team that played against Jeonbuk in the quarter-final second leg," said Hasegawa. "We know Guangzhou is strong and a team with great quality. There are many talented players, with the Chinese players in particular playing with confidence and are at the national team level. "However, we intend to play our 'Gamba Style' and try our best to advance to the final. Since we reached the knockout stage, we have had every second leg at home. For us, this is proving to be a good schedule." The other semi-final sees Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal host Emiratis Al Ahli in the first leg on Tuesday. (Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)