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Vissel Kobe vs Barcelona Highlights: Catalans win pre-season friendly; Rashford makes debut
- July 27, 2025 17:28
- Fulltime; Vissel Kobe 1-3 Barcelona
- Lewandowski with a shot there, trying to get on the scoresheet but it gets blocked. With that, the pre-season friendly comes to an end. Vissel Kobe’s late first-half charge couldn’t be replicated in the second half as the Spanish champion added two more goals to secure the win.
- 87’- GOALLLL! Kobe 1-3 Barca
- Pedro Sarmiento with a stunner! A long ball is floated in by Kounde which finds Olmo. He tries to bring it down but a bad touch takes the ball away. However, Pedro is right at there at the edge of the box and hits it first time to send the ball fizzing into the back of the net!
- Chance! Roony lively again and he lays it off for a teammate whose shot goes above the crossbar.
- Kobe with the ball now. The Japanese side is trying to level the score once again, as it had done in the first half. A corner now and Takuya Iwanami gets his head to the cross but not on target.
- Meanwhile, Rashford has been brought off. He got about 30 minutes or so in his Barcelona debut.
- 77’- Goal!!! Kobe 1-2 Barca
- Roony Bardghji scores Barcelona’s second goal! Lewandowski searches for someone while trying to keep the ball and sights Roony entering at the other side. A pass and Roony side-foots it first time to find the far post and give his team the lead.
- Vissel on the attack. The Japanese side is enjoying some of the ball. The game seems to have plateaued in terms of tempo. However, Barcelona has had the better chances since the start of the second half to take the lead again.
- Rashford almost bags an assist on his debut as his pass finds Roony in the box but he gets underneath the ball and sends it flying over the woodwork.
- Barcelona passing it around. The Spanish side is clearly dominating possession and Vissel is happy to sit back and absorb the pressure.
- Rashford with a shot! The ball changes flanks and finds the winger who goes for goal first time, but its low and grounded, and the ‘keeper makes a save.
- Chance! Olmo had the opportunity to give Barcelona the lead in the match but he shoots it wide of the target.
- Rashford trying to combine with Lewandowski, that’s a sight one needs to get used to now. The English forward tries to thread the needle and play a weighted pass for the Pole but too much power on it.
- Corner for Barcelona. Roony takes a shot but a defender gets a touch and the ball is deflected behind. The resulting corner doesn’t bear fruit for the Catalans.
- Christensen with a block! Vissel prowls on the counter and a pass comes from the left, but the centre-back is there to clear the lines.
- On the break, a pass comes to Rashford. The former Manchester United forward seems to have a free role because he was back to the left flank this time. He runs forward and reaches the outside of the box but he fumbles and gives the ball away.
- That looked like Dani Olmo who drops shoulders and skips past defenders to enter the box. This time, Rashford is in the middle and tries to meet Olmo’s pass but defenders come in between.
- Interception! Rashford looking lively, dropping down and pressing. Here, he steals the ball after intercepting a pass and enters the box. He cuts it back for a teammate but the Japanese side’s defence does well.
- Rashford is playing down the left flank, has his first few touches in a Barcelona shirt.
- All to play for in the second 45 minutes after the business end of the first half saw Vissel Kobe dominate proceedings. England’s Marcus Rashford has made his debut as he comes on for Barcelona.
- Meanwhile, Game 2 is about to start at the FIDE Women’s World Cup final!
- Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy drew the Game 1 as both Indians will look to go for the title today.
- Follow the match LIVE here!
- July 27, 2025 16:22
- A goal by Eric Garcia and Taisei Miyashiro, of Barcelona and Vissel Kobe, respectively, keeps the match in balance at the half-way mark. Barca had started aggressively, but a late mistake by Cubarsi ultimately led to losing its slender lead.
- Cubarsi loses the ball in the midfield and Kobe goes for an attack against the run of play. Sasaki tries a shot, which is saved by Garcia and then Miyashiro finds the net to make it all square.
- Vissel Kobe goes for a brilliant build-up, with Hirose winning the ball and getting the ball into the box. Three of Kobe’s players combine for the final shot, which is blocked by Balde.
- Barcelona goes for another attack, with Raphinha getting the ball into the final third along the left flank. He gets the ball to the either side through side-passing but Yamal’s final shot is blocked by Kobe.
- Yamal carries the ball into the final third along the right flank, then passes it to Gavi in the centre. However, Kobe, maintaining a heavy low block, stops the Barcelona from progressing further.
- Barcelona did not look extremely dangerous in the first 30 minutes but its has found the opening through the narrowest of openings.
- 33’ Goal! Kobe -0-1 Barca
- Yamakawa concedes a corner, which Barcelona takes, sending the ball into the box. Eric Garcia wins the ball in the penalty box melee and find the net to break the deadlock.
- Barcelona has a number of players, including Rashford, warming up and it could very well be the case that the side undergoes major changes after half-time.
- 31’ Change for Vissel Kobe
- In: Takuya Iwanami, Out: Yuki Honda
- Barcelona comes into the new season with a reprieve of not playing in the Club World Cup, which according to the players’ union, FIFPro, has added a lot of pressure on the schedule of players.
- Raphinha takes the free-kick, which is deflected out for a corner by Kobe. The resulting kick is cleared by Kobe.
- Barcelona gets a free-kick in front of the penalty box after the hosts’ late challenge. Raphinha steps up for the kick.
- Barcelona continues to press high up the pitch as it now tries a long ball. Raphinha receives it and as he is surrounded, he cuts it back to Fermin, when Kobe intercepts the ball, averting a major chance.
- 24’ Match resumes: Kobe 0-0 Barca
- After a brief cooling break, the match resumes, with the scores locked at 0-0.
- Raphinha gets the the ball from his left and tries a shot from distance, which goes just wide off-target. Seconds later, the referee blows for the first cooling break.
- Raphinha tries to find an opening along the left flank but fails to find one. He passes it to his right as Barca dominate possession without crossing the ball into the box at the moment.
- Barcelona loses the ball in the midfield and Kobe goes for another attack. Miyashiro and Sasaki sprint into the final third but the latter is stopped in his tracks by Cubarsi.
- Chance for Barca! Raphinha overlaps with Balde and the former’s through ball is hit on target by Ferran Torres, which is again saved by Maekawa.
- Barcelona understands that this opponent will not be a pushover as it accelerates its attack further. Yamal makes a run along the right flank and crosses to Raphinha, who heads the ball on target. However, Maekawa makes a good regulation save.
- Yamal gets the ball along the right flank, he beats Nagato once but the Japanese full-back wins the ball back. Yamal is unhappy that Nagato’s challenge was not given as a foul. Seconds later, Yamal makes another run and this time, his shot goes wide offf-target.
- Ferran Torres gets the ball in the midfield as Barcelona tries to build up an attack. However, he is pushed down by Kobe’s midfielder and Barca takes the free-kick quickly.
- Kobe tries to attack on the counter, and gets the ball to the mid-line. However, the hosts lose control from there, leading to just a throw for Barca.
- Barcelona is dominating possession heavily and Pedri and Fermion try to combine this time at the edge of the penalty box. However, Kobe intercepts and clears the ball away.
- Yamal gets the ball along the right and goes for a run into the final third. However, Nagato follows him and denies him a chance to cross with a sliding tackle. The resulting free-kick, from the foul, sees Raphinha’s whipped cross land in the gloves of Maekawa.
- Vissel Kobe goes for an attack as Miyashiro gets a ball from his right and he tries to beat Garcia. However, the Barca goalie makes a clinical save to deny a certain opener to the hosts.
- Yamal turns architect again as he back-heels the ball to Javi Garcia, whose shot is saved by Kobe. First real chance for Barca, which ends with Kobe coming out on top.
- Yamal gets the ball along the right and then he tries to set up Ferran Torres in front of the box. However, Torres is surrounded as Kobe puts the ball out.
- Kobe is not giving up easily as two players mark Gavi to win the ball in Barca’s half. However, the Spanish side gets the ball back and the ball then goes to Yamal, who makes a run along the right flank, giving the fans something to cheer.
- Barcelona is looking to play out from the back as it tries to draw the opponents up and dominate possession.
- Kobe gets the ball rolling in Japan and the match is on. The hosts have started from right to left while Barca starts from the other side.
- Barcelona now has a new No. 10, after Lionel Messi. Lamine Yamal, who recently turned 18, was handed the iconic jersey before this season.
- The players walk on to the field in what promises to be valuable practice before a grilling domestic season for both sides.
- Barcelona will play a preseason game in Japan that it had previously said was cancelled after resolving a contractual dispute with the promoter, the Spanish champion said Friday.
- Barcelona said that its team was traveling to Japan where it will play a friendly against Vissel Kobe on Sunday.
- The club said that it and the promoter have “resolved all the issues that two days prior obliged Barcelona to cancel its participation” in the game. Barca has not named the promoter or given more detail about the dispute.
