I. Rakitić has scored a goal for Barcelona! Assist by Malcom.
Malcom will be credited with the assist after he sent a neat pass into Rakitic’s feet, though the Croatia star had plenty of work to do.
HE GETS THAT ONE RIGHT! RAKITIC MAKES IT 2-1! That is an exquisite finish from Rakitic, who from 25 yards out, thumps in a fantastic strike that whistles beyond Kepa and into the top corner.
90'
Rakitic tries his luck from a free-kick 20 yards out, but gets far too much power and height on his strike, which soars over.
87'
Barca’s players – despite only coming on at half-time – definitely look to be struggling somewhat with their fitness, and it is clear they still have plenty of work to do in their pre-season programme.
85'
Tomori has looked composed since coming on in place of Christensen, and with Zouma seemingly likely to stay put, Lampard has four solid defensive options to choose from. That is without counting Antonio Rudiger, of course, with the Germany international still out with a long-term injury.
83'
Rafinha has played well since his introduction at half-time, and a smart turn gets him away from Drinkwater. The playmaker then tees up Perez, but he is crowded out by Chelsea’s defence.
81'
R. Barkley has scored a goal for Chelsea! Assist by Marcos Alonso.
Alonso gets the assist, but all the credit must go to Barkley, who set himself brilliantly before tucking away Chelsea’s second with a fine shot.
BARKLEY MAKES IT 2-0! The midfielder has been impressive since he came on, and now has a goal to cap a fine performance. He created space brilliantly on the edge of the area, before curling in a fine finish just inside of the left-hand upright.
76'
Chelsea’s defender is now back on his feet, though doesn’t look to be moving too freely. He is wearing the captain’s armband, with Lampard having publicly declared he has no intention to let the France international – who spent last season on loan at Everton – leave the club.
75'
Zouma has gone down following an awkward collision with Rafinha, and the centre-back looks in some pain.
71'
D. Drinkwater enters the game and replaces Jorginho.
T. Bakayoko enters the game and replaces César Azpilicueta.
Jorginho has gone off, with Drinkwater coming into the midfield.
Bakayoko has come on in place of Azpilicueta.
Minute
Description
70'
D. Zappacosta enters the game and replaces M. Kovačić.
M. Batshuayi enters the game and replaces Pedro.
Pedro has made way for Batshuayi.
Several more changes for Chelsea, now. Zappacosta has replaced Kovacic.
67'
Kenedy is certainly causing Barca some problems with his dynamic play down the right, though he just sliced an effort wide on the half-volley, with his weaker right foot.
65'
More work for Kepa, but this time he is able to make a comfortable stop from Rakitic, who went for goal from around 25 yards out, but couldn’t make a firm connection with his shot.
60'
Kenedy enters the game and replaces T. Abraham.
O. Giroud enters the game and replaces C. Pulišić.
R. Barkley enters the game and replaces M. Mount.
Another Chelsea change sees Barkley replace Mount.
Abraham, whose goal currently separates the sides, has also gone off, with Kenedy coming on.
We have reached the hour mark, and there will be another glut of changes for Chelsea. First, Pulisic makes way for Giroud.
55'
Another opportunity for Perez! Malcom lays a neat throughball into the winger’s path, but he could not generate the power to beat Kepa.
51'
Barca have certainly started quickly since the break, with De Jong already showing some neat touches in that central midfield anchor role that he occupied so well for Ajax last term.
48'
F. Tomori enters the game and replaces A. Christensen.
Chelsea have now made another change. Tomori, who impressed under Lampard at Derby County last season, is on in place of Christensen.
47'
An early opportunity for Malcom, who got in behind Chelsea's line, only to then drag a shot wide from the edge of the area.
46'
Neto enters the game and replaces M. ter Stegen.
Guillem Jaime enters the game and replaces Jordi Alba.
Carles Aleñá enters the game and replaces Sergi Roberto.
K. Zouma enters the game and replaces David Luiz.
Carles Pérez enters the game and replaces O. Dembélé.
Marcos Alonso enters the game and replaces Emerson.
F. de Jong enters the game and replaces Riqui Puig.
C. Lenglet enters the game and replaces S. Umtiti.
J. Todibo enters the game and replaces Piqué.
I. Rakitić enters the game and replaces Sergio Busquets.
Nélson Semedo enters the game and replaces Oriol Busquets.
Malcom enters the game and replaces Álex Collado.
Rafinha enters the game and replaces A. Griezmann.
Indeed, there are plenty of changes for Barca. One of the substitutions sees Ter Stegen make way for Neto, who has signed from Valencia.
Sergio Busquets – at fault for Chelsea's goal – is taken off. Rakitic is on.
Oriol Busquets has made way for Semedo.
Collado has made way for Malcom.
Dembele has been replaced by Carles Perez.
De Jong is on for his Barca debut, replacing Puig.
Griezmann has been given 45 minutes. Rafinha has replaced the former Atleti star.
Todibo has replaced Pique in Barca's back line.
Emerson has made way for Marcos Alonso in Chelsea's other change.
Alba has been replaced by Jaime.
Chelsea have also made some changes. David Luiz has gone off, with Zouma – who looks to be staying at the club – coming into defence.
Roberto has gone off, with Alena coming on.
We are back up and running!
Substitution Samuel Yves Umtiti Clément Lenglet
45' +2
HALF-TIME: BARCELONA 0-1 CHELSEA.
45' +1
Griezmann gets a shot off, but the angle is tight and it soars way over. Could that be his last action today, or will he get a bit more time in the second half?
44'
Chelsea are easing there way towards half-time, now. They have certainly looked sharper and fitter than their counterparts, which would be expected as this is Barca’s first pre-season match.
39'
Chelsea think they have another chance to break after a slack bit of play from a Barca midfielder, but this time, David Luiz is adjudged to have committed a foul.
34'
T. Abraham has scored a goal for Chelsea! Assist by Jorginho.
It was incredibly slack play from Sergio Busquets, who was duly punished by Jorginho. The Italy midfielder had pressed up high, and did well to force the ball into Abrham’s path.
GOAL! CHELSEA LEAD 1-0! A torrid error from Sergio Busquets allows Jorginho to pounce, as he manages to divert the pass into Abraham. He takes an excellent first touch to round Ter Stegen and, despite slipping slightly after that, he still managed to turn home.
33'
Griezmann is seeing more and more of the ball now, and is starting to drag Chelsea’s defence around with some smart runs out into the wide areas. So far, though, none of his Barca team-mates have been able to rush into the space he has vacated in the centre, meaning Lampard’s side are able to recover.
32'
Excellent play from Griezmann, who finds a pocket of space before teeing up Dembele. The former Borussia Dortmund star takes on a shot, but Pedro – of all the players – is on hand to make a vital block.
28'
Another chance for Chelsea! A well-worked move results in Azpilicueta drilling a low cross into Pulisic, who sends his first-time effort wide. Promising signs for the Blues, though.
26'
End-to-end play, now. Umtiti gets an attempted clearance all wrong, and Mount capitalises. He wastes no time in taking on a snapshot, but can’t keep it on target.
18'
It was certainly a reckless challenge from Jorginho, who is fortunate not to have been punished with a card. Griezmann, however, is back to his feet, and will likely be okay to continue.
16'
Excellent goalkeeping from Kepa, who races off his line to prevent Dembele latching onto a through ball from Griezmann. Chelsea get up the other end, with Abraham laying it off to Pedro, who can only hammer the shot straight back into his team-mate.
14'
Griezmann gets the first chance to stretch his legs, as he hunts down a pass from Roberto. Christensen kept pace with the former Atleti man all the way, though, and manages to nudge the ball out of play before Barca’s number 17 can get there.
12'
It has all got a bit ugly between Barca and Atleti when it comes to the finer details of the Griezmann deal, but there is no doubting the forward’s quality. The 28-year-old has not played since the start of June, however, when he featured for France against Andorra, and will likely be looking to use this match to get back up to pace.
10'
Though Ernesto Valverde led Barca to a second successive LaLiga title last term, 2018-19 came to a rather disastrous end for the Catalan giants, who succumbed in remarkable fashion to Liverpool in the Champions League before losing to Valencia in the Copa del Rey final, and the pressure could will certainly be on the former Athletic Bilbao boss to improve in the coming campaign, especially with Griezmann now among the ranks.
8'
Chelsea have taken the initiative now, and Emerson just drilled in a wonderful cross that Barca’s defence could only turn away for a corner. The Blues are unable to make the set-piece count, though, with Dembele then drawing a foul from Jorginho in order to ease the pressure.
6'
Great work from Abraham, who has been handed a chance to impress by Lampard. Given Chelsea are currently serving a transfer ban, the striker could be in line to be a key figure this season, and he very nearly pressed Pique into a mistake. Barca’s centre-back, however, recovered by laying the ball off to Ter Stegen.
4'
Kovacic may have switched off defensively moments ago, though he has just shown what he can offer going forward by picking out Azpilicueta with a searching cross. The full-back won the header, but sent it wide.
1'
KICK-OFF! Chelsea, playing in their all-white away strip, get proceedings up and running.
Already, Barca are on the front foot as they press high to win possession, with Puig threading a neat pass wide to Alba. Griezmann made a darting run to the near post, but the cross is cut out and deflected for a corner.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of this pre-season friendly between Barcelona and Chelsea!
Today’s Rakuten Cup meeting takes place at the Saitama Stadium, in Japan, with both of these sides taking part in a tour of the country. While Chelsea’s pre-season preparations are already well underway, this is the first match for LaLiga holders Barca, and the first chance for fans to cast their eyes over Frenkie de Jong and, of course, Antoine Griezmann in the famous Blaugrana jersey.
After plenty of speculation, Griezmann joined Barca for a huge fee of €120million. The World Cup winner spent five seasons playing under Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid, becoming a global superstar in the process, and now has the chance to go onto become a great at Camp Nou.
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets, Oriol Busquets, Riqui Puig; Alex Collado, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele.
CHELSEA SUBS: Marcos Alonso, Danny Drinkwater, Ross Barkley, Willy Caballero, Tiemoue Bakayoko, Kurt Zouma, Kenedy, Olivier Giroud, Davide Zappacosta, Michy Batshuayi, Fikayo Tomori, Kasey Palmer, Jamie Cumming.
CHELSEA (4-2-3-1): Kepa Arrizabalaga; Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen, David Luiz, Emerson; Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic; Pedro, Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic; Tammy Abraham.
The teams are making their way out onto the pitch at Saitama Stadium. There is an actual piece of silverware at stake for Barca's tour – which also includes a clash with Vissel Kobe, who count Camp Nou legend Andres Iniesta within their ranks. But, it is all really about fitness and gearing up for the season proper, with all eyes set to be on Griezmann.
There are likely to be wholesale changes for Barca after the break, with De Jong sure to come on for his debut. Chelsea are deep into their pre-season, so Lampard may not make too many alterations at the interval.
BARCELONA SUBS: Jeanclair Todibo, Inaki Pena, Clement Lenglet, Carles Perez, Guillem Jaime, Neto, Rafinha, Nelson Semedo, Frenkie de Jong, Carles Alena, Ivan Rakitic, Arturo Vidal, Ronald Araujo, Malcom.
That’s all we have time for. Until next time, goodbye!
Chelsea now head back to the United Kingdom, with Reading next up on Sunday. Barca, meanwhile, face Vissel Kobe in their next outing.
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