Chelsea took advantage of the absence of Barca’s talisman Lionel Messi to beat the Spanish club 2-1.
The result is Frank Lampard’s most impressive as Chelsea boss to date, with his side putting in a positive showing at the Saitama Stadium. Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley grabbed the goals for the Blues while Rakitic did it for the Blaugrana.
Barcelona began the match on a slightly higher note with Antoine Griezmann showing impressive link-up play on his debut. They raided Chelsea’s goal and they got their first chance of the game in the 2nd-minute through Oriol Busquets, who sent a free header narrowly over the bar.
Barcelona dominated possession in the early exchanges, with Antoine Griezmann showing impressive link-up play on his debut.
The Blues took ground in the 8th-minute where a brilliant Emerson Palmieri ball in skimmed across the face of the Barca goal, but Alex Collado managed to clear with Tammy Abraham lurking behind ready to tap it in.
Chelsea almost got their opener in the 28th-minute when Ter Stegen parried Christian Pulisic’s effort to the feet of Tammy, who couldn’t convert the rebound.
https://twitter.com/spotekx/status/1153624114571165696
One on one with Ter Stegen, Abraham Tammy’s quick feet got the job done and the ball rolled into the back of the net in the 38th-minute.
Pulisic showed off his blistering pace as he raced away down the left flank, he tried his luck on goal from a tight angle, but it smashed the side netting.
Barkley picked out the run of Kenedy with an excellent ball over the top of the Barca defense, but the Brazilian’s header was wide of the target. Nice play though.
Alonso split the Barca defense and played in Michy with a perfectly-weighted pass, but the Batsman was unable to put it away. Good goalkeeping from Neto to deny the Belgian.
Ross Barkley, who came in for Mason Mount gave the Blues their second goal before Picking up the ball just inside the Barca box, he took a touch before curling it into the bottom left corner.
Barkley makes it 2-0 🙌🔵 #CFC https://t.co/AxZcNSb34D
— CFC-Blues (@CFCBlues_com) July 23, 2019
The Croatian Ivan Rakitic gave Barca their first a few minutes before the final whistle with a brilliant strike from outside the area.
Frank Lampard had endured a mixed start to life as Chelsea manager. He drew his first game in charge against Bohemians, won his second match against St Patrick’s Athletic and lost against Kawasaki Frontale in his third.
Barcelona was the toughest test to date but he still put his faith in youngsters Abraham and Mason Mount to start. And his trust paid off, with Chelsea recording a great win.