Barça to play Iniesta's Vissel Kobe and Chelsea on Japan tour
The Liga champions will play The Blues in Tokyo on 23 July and then meet their former teammates Andrés Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper in Kobe.
Barcelona have confirmed that they will travel to Japan for a pre-season tour this summer where the Liga champions will play Chelsea and former Camp Nou captain Andrés Inieta’s Vissel Kobe.
“See you soon, Asia,” Gerard Piqué said in a promotional video released by the club on Thursday, which also gave the dates of the two games: July 23 for the match against Chelsea in Tokyo, and four days later, July 27, the meeting with Vissel in Kobe.
As well as Iniesta, Barça will be reunited with former players David Villa and Sergi Samper, who are both also at Vissel.
Barça likely to be missing Messi, Suárez and Coutinho
The only matter to be decided is who among Barça’s superstar squad will be on the tour. The South American contingent of Leo Messi, Arthur, Luis Suárez, Arturo Vidal and Philippe Coutinho will be at the Copa América, which takes place between June 14 and July 7, putting their participation in Japan in doubt.
However, Japanese fans will be able to see the debut of Frenkie de Jong in a Barça shirt with the Ajax midfielder set to make his first appearance for the side in Tokyo. The remainder of the squad will probably join up for the Chinese leg of the tour, the dates and opponents of which are yet to be announced.