AFC Champions League Elite - Kisnorbo, Kato rue Marinos’ slow start

Jeddah: Head coach Patrick Kisnorbo and midfielder Ren Kato were in agreement that Yokohama F. Marinos’s 4-1 defeat to Al Nassr Club in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League Elite™ Finals Jeddah 2025 on Saturday was down to a poor first half showing.

Al Nassr led 3-0 at the break thanks to efforts from Jhon Duran, Sadio Mane and Cristiano Ronaldo as the Marinos made their exit, with Kisnorbo feeling that it was out of sync with how his team performed in the opening minutes of the first half.

#ACLElite | Quarter-finals : Yokohama F. Marinos (JPN) 1 - 4 Al Nassr Club (KSA)

“At the start, things were actually very good - until we conceded the first goal,” said Kisnorbo. “We knew that we would be under some pressure. We conceded three goals that could have been avoided.

“In the second half we came out and conceded on the transition, and you can’t do that with this team. We scored and had another chance afterwards. I’m disappointed in conceding the goals the way we did but proud of the players’ effort in the game.”

The Australian explained the decision to keep Anderson Lopes and Kenta Inoue on the bench was due to unavoidable reasons, with both playing their part in an improved Marinos performance in the second half.

“Kenta (pictured below) has just come back from injury and was unable to start. Lopes was an internal thing we spoke about within the squad but yes, when they both came on, they were very good.”

Midfielder Kato had a difficult game in which he found himself doing more defending than attacking, having to track back to cope with the advances of Al Nassr right-back Sultan Al Ghannam.

“Our coach told us to press hard and be aggressive,” said Kato. “That was the game plan and this is not the result we were expecting.

“We picked up in the second half but I think we got our game together too late. If we had shown this performance in the first half, we could have had a better scoreline. We're upset that this is the end of the journey for us.”

Kisnorbo, Kato rue Marinos’ slow start

Ronaldo, Mane set sights on more

Duran's return to form a relief for Pioli

Q-final: Duran shines as Al Nassr end Marinos' dreams

Alioski: Belief powering Al Ahli Saudi

Jaissle applauds perfect Al Ahli