Straight into action for FC Barcelona. After a 13 hour flight and landing at Osaka airport at 8.00am local time, the team made the 90 minute journey by road to Kobe. Once at the hotel, Hansi Flick’s 30 man squad had a mild warm-up session. Then came treatment and a rest period — but no sleep to avoid jet lag — before the first training session of the Asian tour began.
All 30 on the grass
The first session on the grass was at the Noevir Stadium Kobe, home of Vissel Kobe and venue for the first preseason friendly. Training featured all 30 players who travelled and began at 6.00pm local time (11.00am in Barcelona). The media were out in force too, as the first 15 minutes was an open session. When it comes to squad news, only Marc Bernal is yet to be passed fit, so he won’t feature against Vissel Kobe on Sunday.
The session was also streamed live on the official YouTube Membership channel (Pack Pre Season). FC Barcelona are providing special coverage of the tour so fans can keep up to date, with daily content being provided via the Club website, official app and social media.
Mikitani at training
Founder and CEO of Rakuten, Hiroshi Mikitani, was also keen to see the training session and spent some time with the FC Barcelona president and the rest of the blaugrana party.