FC Barcelona have started their Asian Tour in convincing fashion by beating Japanese champions Vissel Kobe 3-1 in a game that showed that the players are looking surprisingly fresh despite this being their first game since May and where a number of new recruits and youth players got to play for the first time among the established stars, and certainly didn’t disappoint, with two of the teenagers even getting on the scoresheet.
Eric opens the preseason account
Barça took 34 minutes to open the scoring, and it was somewhat scrappy way to open their 2025/26 preseason account. Ferran Torres whipped in the corner and in a scramble following a blocked Gavi attempt, Eric García managed to get a toe to the ball and Barça were ahead.
It was no less than Barça deserved. Fielding a near full-strength starting XI, they had taken the game to the J-League leaders from the outset, with Raphinha coming close on a couple of occasions.
Vissel Kobe mainly limited their game to counter attacks, and it was from one of those that they unexpectedly equalised moments before half-time. Debutant goalie Joan García, who had been more than competent on the few occasions that he has been called upon, produced a brilliant one-on-one save, but there was nothing he could do about Kobe’s follow-up, and Miyashiro ensured that the teams went in level at the break.
New faces
Both teams fielded totally different elevens for the second half, with Hansi Flick opting to include no fewer than three more debutants. Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, took his place in attack, and was quick to make an impact, with one particularly fine attempt well saved by the home keeper.
The hugely promising Barça Atlètic left-back Jofre Torrents got his first game at senior level, and lived up to expectation with a faultless performance, while Roony Bardghji, recently signed from Copenhagen got the dream start by scoring the goal that restores the blaugrana lead.
Robert Lewandowski did the setting up, and the Kuwait-born Sweden U21 international coolly took charge of the finish.
And Bardghji wouldn’t be the only teenager to find the net in his maiden appearance for the first team. Pedro Fernández, better known as ‘Dro’, came on for the last few minutes, and after a Jules Kounde effort was sloppily cleared by the Japanese defence, the 17-year-old collected the ball on the volley from the edge of the area to make it 3-1.
Promising start
More than anything, this game was about getting back in motion following the summer break and weaning in the new players, but the sensations are all positive. The team looked remarkably polished considering this was their first run-out for several weeks, the new players all seem to have settled in nicely, and after a number of La Masia graduates made their breakthroughs last season, today we were reminded that there’s plenty more where they came from.
And as we needed it, which we don’t, we were also given a reminder of just what a phenomenal talent the club has in Lamine Yamal. In his 45 minutes on the pitch, there was a gasp of excitement from the home fans every time he got on the ball. And with every reason. His magic in the first half was one of the highlights of the game.
The team now leaves Japan and heads west for a couple of games ion South Korea. Next up, FC Seoul on Thursday, kick off 8pm local time, 1pm CEST – see you there!