2019/23 Koya Kitagawa @ SK Rapid Vienna (AUT)

https://www.skrapid.at/en/home/news/news/latest-news/2019/07/japanese-striker-koya-kitagawa-jets-into-vienna/

4 years contract until the summer of 2023, he will wear the jersey number 32.

 

First bench start for Kitagawa:

Unsere Start-1️⃣1️⃣ für das heutige Auswärtsduell gegen Sturm Graz. Anpfiff ist um 17:00 Uhr, live seid ihr via Sky und im Website Ticker mit dabei!#SCR2019 #STUSCR pic.twitter.com/xGfIKOH3AQ

— SK Rapid (@skrapid) August 18, 2019

 

Assist.

 

ナイスアシストー！！！！！✨#北川航也#skrapid

やっぱコンビネーションで活かせる選手だなぁ！✨ pic.twitter.com/WP90K0KKGN

— ますだんぱ。@4/28初アイスタ🧡 (@masudanpa1) September 1, 2019

 

Goal in the Cup against Salzburg.

He was subbed out in the second half and he was limping.

 

Kitagawa will use crutches for 2 weeks, and night miss the remaining of the year because of an ankle injury he suffered from during the cup match against Salzburg.

PK vor #scrhtb!
Wie befürchtet gibt’s Bad News bei #Koya #Kitagawa: der japanische @skrapid-Stürmer fällt aufgrund seiner im Cupspiel erlittenen Sprunggelenksverletzung aus. Zwei Wochen Krücken, Ausfall droht bis Jahresende.#scr2019#SkyBuliAT#comebackstronger@SkySportAustria pic.twitter.com/KsZ72pHqHm

— Phillip Lautischer (@Sky_PhillipL) September 27, 2019

 

Scored his first goal in the Austrian Bundesliga:

最初の目標! ⚽🇯🇵 Koya #Kitagawa erzielt sein erstes Bundesliga-Tor für den @skrapid! #SkyBuliAT #SCRWAC pic.twitter.com/SXIvALwTu0

— Sky Sport Austria (@SkySportAustria) June 14, 2020

 

They secured the second place tonight, as they emerged victorious over their direct opposition for the second place and UCL birth.

Kitagawa came in as a second half substitute, and as it was always the case his contribution to the team was marginal.

 

Yes, and he wasn't helped by his injury earlier in the season, which kept him out of action for at least two months.

 

Scored his second goal of the season today in the last match of the season.

 

Qualified to UCL third qualification round where they will face either Benfica, Dynamo Kiev, or Gent.

Kitagawa came in as a sub around the 86th mimute yesterday, as his team won their second round qualification match.

 

Drawn against Gent in UEFA Champions League 3rd qualifying round.

 

Scored a goal in his team's league opener, after coming in as a sub in the last 15 minutes.

His team won 4-1.

 

His goal:

ハハハーーー✨✨(°▽°)✨✨
北川航也ゴーール！！！
幸先いいぞーー！！！！
やったねやったねーー！！！！

ゴール決めて仲間に頭バシバシされるとこも見てくれ😆💕 pic.twitter.com/wRjlLZPenf

— ますだんぱ。@4/28初アイスタ🧡 (@masudanpa1) September 11, 2020

 

Came in as a sub in the 86th minute with his team trailing 2-0 against Gent, and was reduced to 10 men a minute earlier.

They managed to pull a goal back in the 92nd minute, and could have equalised in the last play of the match if one of Rapid Wien's players passed the ball to Kitagawa (who was free in front of the goal) instead of heading the ball wide.

It is strange how Rapid Wien's head coach waited too long to make his substitutions, as his team was 2-0 down since the 59th minute and he made his first substitution in the 73rd minute and then made a double substitution in the 86th minute.

Anyhow, they are now qualified to Europa League's groups stage, to make Kitagawa the 4th Japanese player to scure a spot in the competition's groups stage alongside Takefusa Kubo, Koji Miyoshi, and Yukinari Sugawara.

Kento Hashimoto (Rostov),Ryotaro Meshino (Rio Ave), Ryota Morioka (Charleroi), and Takuma Asano (Partizan Belgrade) are set to play in the qualification rounds, with Morioka and Asano will most probably ace each other in the next round, which means we will have a maximum of 7 Japanese players in Europa League's groups stage (It could be 8 if Salzburg do not manage to qualify to Champions League's groups stage).

Last year there were 8 Japanese playing in Europa League's groups stage.