Chelsea rounded off their pre-season tour of Japan with a promising 2-1 win against Barcelona.
Full-time: Chelsea 2-1 Barcelona!
Goals from @tammyabraham and @RBarkley8 secure the win in our final game in Japan! #CFCinJapan pic.twitter.com/BD0JdfmUPs
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 23, 2019
The Europa League holders took the lead 31 minutes in when an uncharacteristic back pass from Sergio Busquets saw Tammy Abraham skip past Marc-Andre ter Stegen and slot in the opening goal. Ross Barkley made it 2-0 with nine minutes to go before Ivan Rakitic’s screamer added a consolation goal early into stoppage time for Barcelona.
Within the Sun’s player ratings after the win, the likes of Mateo Kovacic and the aforementioned Abraham were handed 8 out of 10, while big-money man Christian Pulisic was handed a 7.
After losing to J League side Kawasaki Frontale four days earlier (per Chelsea’s official website), the win against the Spanish champions could well have settled any nerves as the Premier League season approaches. Indeed, judging by some of the comments below, optimism is in the air.
Here is how some fans reacted on Twitter to the result in Japan…
Champions of Europe
— CFC Daily (@CFCDaily) July 23, 2019
Guys. I think we’re gonna win the Quadruple
— Liam (@StartTheBounce) July 23, 2019
— . (@LampardBaII) July 23, 2019
A massive win for the boys
— Nat_Sergio16 (@NatSergio1) July 23, 2019
Easy.. pic.twitter.com/z20iPCgGyI
— ً (@TQRKI) July 23, 2019
now I’m starting to believe in this team.. we have got nothing to worry about in midfield and flanks
— Heart of St John (@HeartofStJohn1) July 23, 2019
Incoming pic.twitter.com/0J5GLWETug
— Luke Martin (@lukemartiny96) July 23, 2019
Great game boys let’s keep pushing
— NICHOLAS (@Djnicho3) July 23, 2019
