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2021 J.League Cup

2021 JリーグYBCルヴァンカップ
Tournament details
Country	Japan
Dates	2 March – 30 October
Teams	16 (group stage) 20 (total)
Final positions
Champions	Nagoya Grampus (1st title)
Runner-up	Cerezo Osaka
Tournament statistics
Matches played	69
Goals scored	172 (2.49 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sho Inagaki Kasper Junker Teruhito Nakagawa Adaílton (4 goals each)
← 2020 2022 →

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, was the 29th edition of J.League Cup, a Japanese association football cup competition. It began on 2 March 2021 and ended on 30 October that year.^[1]

FC Tokyo were the cup holders, having won their third title. They failed to defend their title after being eliminated by eventual winners Nagoya Grampus in the semi-finals. Nagoya Grampus won their first ever J.League Cup title, defeating one-time winners Cerezo Osaka in the final.

All 20 teams playing in the 2021 J1 League participated. Four clubs involved in the 2021 AFC Champions League received byes for the group and playoff stages: 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).

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

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).

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.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kashima Antlers	6	3	3	0	14	4	+10	12	Advance 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC Tokyo	6	3	3	0	6	2	+4	12	Advance 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Urawa Red Diamonds	6	2	3	1	7	5	+2	9	Advance 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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Yokohama F. Marinos	6	4	2	0	17	4	+13	14	Advance 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

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.Tooltip Aggregate score	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

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.

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 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 were used if needed.

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

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.Tooltip Aggregate score	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

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.

The semi-finals were 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.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Nagoya Grampus	4–3	FC Tokyo	3–1	1–2
Urawa Red Diamonds	1–2	Cerezo Osaka	1–1	0–1

Nagoya Grampus won 4–3 on aggregate.

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Cerezo Osaka won 2–1 on aggregate.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[2]
1	Sho Inagaki	Nagoya Grampus	4
	Kasper Junker	Urawa Red Diamonds
	Teruhito Nakagawa	Yokohama F. Marinos
	Adaílton	FC Tokyo
5	Hisashi Jogo	Avispa Fukuoka	3
	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

• J.League official website