Chelsea ended their Japan Tour on a winning note as they defeated Spanish giant FC Barcelona 2-1 in a Rakuten Cup (Pre-season friendly) in Saitama, Japan.
Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley score in either of the halves to seal a victory against the La Liga champions. Ivan Rakitic scored a consolation goal for Barcelona in the stoppage time of the second half.
Both teams had fielded their best possible line ups with Chelsea providing Christian Pulisic a first start and Griezmann making Barcelona debut. Chelsea was without its injured Kante, Hudson Odoi, Ruben Loftus Cheek whereas, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, Philipe Coutinho, and Suarez are still on holiday after Copa America 2019.
The win is second for Chelsea legend Frank Lampard as Chelsea manager in his 4 matches. He made wise use of the young academy players and the players are keeping Lampard’s choice by showing their hunger to play for the club.