Barcelona vs Chelsea : Preview of today's match, Nigerian forward Tammy Abraham proving himself with the first goal of the game.




What to look out for during Barcelona's tour of Japan

Barcelona kicked off their 2019 preseason with a 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Tuesday in the Rakuten Cup at the Saitama Stadium in Japan.

Ivan Rakitic, rumoured to be part of a mega-swap with PSG for Neymar, made sure Barcelona got on the scoresheet with a searing right-footed strike in second half stoppage time after goals from Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley had given Chelsea a two-goal lead.

Among Barcelona's main summer arrivals, Antoine Griezmann and Frenkie de Jong, it was Griezmann getting the start while the Dutchman started on the bench. Ousmane Dembele and Collado joined the Frenchman up top, while 2018 preseason sensation Riqui Puig joined the two Busquets, Sergio and Oriol, in midfield.

Meanwhile, in the back it was the familiar sight of full-backs Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba, centre-backs Gerard Pique and Samuel Umtiti, plus goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

As for Chelsea, some of the more notable names in their starting XI were goalkeeper Kepa, full-back Cesar Azpilicueta, forward Pedro and new United States national team attacker Christian Pulisic.

Barcelona showed some rust in their first minutes of the new season, which was summed up by Griezmann completely whiffing on a shot in front of goal in the first half-hour.

The lack of game action also reared itself in the back and led to Chelsea breaking the deadlock. Jorginho closed down on a casual pass from Sergio Busquets and the ball ricocheted right to Abraham, who finished past Ter Stegen for a 0-1 Chelsea lead.

Outside of a left-footed effort from Dembele late in the half, there was little to write home about from Barcelona's first 45 minutes. Manager Ernesto Valverde made a full squad change during the break, meaning De Jong got his first look in a Barcelona jersey.

Barcelona looked a more energetic side in the second half with better link-up play from the attack. Some fancy footwork from Carles Perez almost yielded an equaliser, while Carles Alena's right-footed bullet forced Kepa into a save.

New goalkeeper Neto also got his first minutes with the club and had to react quickly from a shot deflecting in off Todibo, but he was unable to move to his right quickly enough to save a curling effort from Barkley, who doubled Chelsea's advantage 2-0 in the final 10 minutes.

But with seconds remaining Barcelona managed to avoid the clean sheet loss thanks to Rakitic's blazing strike from outside the area to complete the 2-1 scoreline.

Match sheet

Goals: 0-1, min. 34: Abraham; 0-2, min. 81: Barkley; 2-1, min. 91: Rakitic

Stadium: Saitama

Attendance: 63.000

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