Vissel Kobe 1-3 Barça: Flick's team debuts with a victory on the tour

After all the controversy prior to the trip to Japan, FC Barcelona and Vissel Kobe finally managed to play their scheduled charity friendly at Misaki Park Stadium, in front of more than 30,000 spectators who filled the stands of the stadium where Andrés Iniesta was a local not long ago, wearing the maroon shirt of the club that is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. 

Finally, the team led by Hansi Flick took the victory against a combative Japanese team. Takayuki Yoshida's team stood up to the current Spanish champion, managing to keep the score level at halftime. In the second half, the culé hierarchy was evident thanks to the talent of the youngsters.

Eric García put Barça ahead in the first half

Barça took control of the match from the start, with Alejandro Balde and Eric García very advanced. Gavi and Pedri managed the tempo of possession, while Fermín López and Lamine Yamal tried to do damage on the wings.

Raphinha had the first clear chance near the 20th minute, with a tight shot from the edge of the area that grazed the post. In the 33rd minute, Eric put the blaugrana team ahead by fishing a loose ball inside the area, after a corner served by Fermín from the left.

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The player from Martorell was a starter in place of Jules Koundé and scored again against Vissel, as he had done in the friendly match played in June 2023 (Barça's triumph by 0-2). The locals, however, reacted before the break with a goal from Taisei Miyashiro.

The '9' took advantage of a pass from Rikuto Hirose, after a great save by Joan García after a lethal Japanese counterattack, to define at will against the Catalan goalkeeper. Flick's team was very badly positioned in the back, after a loss by Pau Cubarsí.

Roony Bardghji led Barça's victory in Kobe

In the second half, as usual in these matches, massive changes arrived. Flick changed the whole team, bringing in Szczesny, Koundé, Araujo, Christensen, Jofre Torrents, Casadó, De Jong, Olmo, Bardghji, Lewandowski and Rashford. With this, the other two reinforcements of Barcelona in the summer market had their official debut.

The Englishman was very active on the left, understanding very well with Olmo to create danger on the wing. The player from Terrassa had the first clear chance for the culés in the second half in the 63rd minute, with a crossed shot, after an assist from Casadó, that went wide.

Rashford also enabled Roony in the 68th minute with a filtered pass, but the Swede shot high. In the 77th minute, however, the former Copenhagen striker had revenge, defining first-time a pass from Lewandowski, who was previously enabled by Marcus.

Immediately afterwards, Flick put Pedro Fernández 'Dro' and Gerard Martín in place of the Englishman and Jofre. Ten minutes later, Dro closed the scoring with a remarkable volley definition, caused by a bad control of Olmo to a center of Koundé.

The 17-year-old striker, with the '27' on his back, debuts with a goal in the first team, which next week will travel to South Korea to face FC Seoul (August 31) and Daegu FC (August 4).

Match data sheet: Vissel Kobe 1-3 FC Barcelona

• Vissel Kobe, 1: Maekawa; Sakai, Yamakawa, Honda, Nagato; Ohgihara, Erik, Ideguchi, Hirose; Miyashiro and Sasaki.
• FC Barcelona, 3: Joan Garcia; Eric Garcia, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Gavi, Pedri, Fermín; Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres and Raphinha.
• Goals: 0-1, Eric García (min. 33); 1-1, Taisei Miyashiro (min. 42); 1-2, Roony Bardghji (min. 74); 1-3, Pedro Fernández 'Dro' (min. 87).
• Referee: Takafumi Mikuriya (Japan).
• Incidents: friendly match corresponding to the Barça's 2025 preseason Asian tour.