Barcelona suffered defeat in their first pre-season friendly as they went down 2-1 against Chelsea in Japan on Tuesday.
Goals from Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley were enough for the Europa League holders, with a late scorching strike from Ivan Rakitic not enough to save Barca from defeat.
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There were Barca debuts for Antoine Griezmann, Neto and Frenkie de Jong – the latter two came off the bench – while Riqui Puig impressed in midfield. It was an experimental line-up from Ernesto Valverde’s side but which started established stars such as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Jordi Alba, Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Busquets.
Next up for Barca is a clash with Japanese club Vissel Kobe, for whom their former captain Andres Iniesta plays.
