Japanese Players in Europe

Keisuke Honda started CSKA Moscow’s 2-2 draw with city rivals Spartak Moscow on Sunday but was forced off at halftime due to a knee injury. He was replaced by Pavel Mamaev. Despite Zenit St. Petersburg’s 5-0 win over Kuban Krasnodar which put the two sides level on points and Zenit with the superior goal difference, CSKA remain top of the Russian table due to a better head-to-head record.

UPDATE: Honda will miss two-three months due to this knee injury.

Atsuto Uchida played the entire 90 minutes of Schalke’s 1-0 win over Borussia Monchengladbach on Sunday. The victory put Schalke joint top of the Bundesliga with rivals Bayern Munich.

Shinji Kagawa played 81 minutes of Dortmund’s 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. He was replaced by Jakub Blaszczykowski. The result leaves the reigning Bundesliga champions in sixth place with seven points. Kagawa expressed his disappointment after the match, saying “I missed a good chance to score, it is really regrettable.”

Makoto Hasebe played 50 minutes of Wolfsburg’s 3-0 loss at SC Freiburg on Saturday. Shinji Okazaki played the entire 90 minutes of Vfb Stuttgart’s 1-0 loss at Hertha Berlin.

Yoshiaki Takagi was left on the bench for FC Utrecht’s 3-1 win over Roda JC. The match featured the Eredivise debut of Rodney Sneijder on loan from Ajax. He scored, while brother Wesley cheered from the stands.

Ryo Miyaichi picked up a minor injury during the week and was unavailable for Arsenal’s 8-2 mauling at the hands of Manchester United. The match was utterly cartoonish, with both teams spurning chances upon chances. 10-5 would have better reflected the quality of defending on display. It’s a shame Ryo wasn’t fit, because he would likely have gotten time, and maybe even a goal. On the other hand, he didn’t have to suffer what was undoubtedly a traumatic experience for Arsenal players.

Overall, it was an underwhelming weekend for Japanese players in Europe. Hopefully, they will feature more prominently after the international break.