Vissel Kobe vs Barcelona: The visitors picked up a 2-0 win over J1 League leaders Vissel Kobe. Barcelona, managed by Xavi Hernandez, faced off against his former teammate Andres Iniesta, who played one of his last games for the Japanese side.
Iniesta has announced that he will be leaving the club in July, marking an end to his spell in Japan so far. And with his playing time significantly reduced this season, we might have seen the legendary Spanish midfielder put on the shirt for the last time. That is not to say that he will be retiring as he has made it clear that he wants to play on for a few more years.
The Spaniard started the game as the captain of the team, and was substituted in the 81st minute, as is the case in friendlies. He wasn’t able to play against his former teammates Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba, as they didn’t travel to Japan. Both of them will be leaving the club at the end of the season, as has been announced already.
Vissel Kobe vs Barcelona: Kessi and Garcia score to win in final game of the season
The Catalonians won the 22/23 La Liga title, but have had a rather poor run since being named the Champions. They ended their season with a 2-1 loss away at Celta Vigo, allowing them to stay up in the top flight. But their season has ended with a win, albeit in a friendly match in Japan.
The game was evenly played, with both teams registering 10+ shots. Barcelona were the more clinical of the two sides and scored two goals within 20 minutes to turn the tide in their favour. Kessie scored first, followed by Eric Garcia.
Xavi fielded many youngsters alongside the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Marcos Alonso and Frenkie De Jong. The manager brought on the La Masia players for the second half of the game, and was able to see out a win with a clean sheet.
Barcelona now have a lengthy spell off, and will regroup for preseason in about a month. They will have a busy summer transfer window with many key decisions set to be made over the squad structure.
Vissel Kobe, on the other hand, have been on a decent run in their league and will be hopeful of retaining the top spot when they get back to action against Cerezo Osaka in their next match.
