Barcelona kicked off their preparations for the 2025-26 season in winning fashion thanks to a 3-1 victory against Vissel Kobe on Sunday night in Kobe, Japan. Hansi Flick used 24 players across 90 minutes and gave playing time to a few impressive youngsters, and new signing Roony Bardghji and La Masia prospect Dro Fernández left their mark in the scoresheet to give the Catalans a solid start to preseason.
FIRST HALF
Hansi Flick’s first lineup of the season was a pretty strong one, with almost all of the key
pieces of last year’s run. Barça dominated possession as usual but looked as rusty as you’d expect a team that hadn’t played together in two months to look: the passing wasn’t quite as sharp, the off-ball movement was poor, and the finishing was subpar in the two or three chances they managed to create early on.
The biggest positive from the opening 25 minutes of the first half was undoubtedly Joan Garcia: the goalkeeper looked comfortable on the ball and made some nice passes under pressure, and Barça played well from the back whenever the new signing was involved in the buildup.
The Catalans eventually took the lead after Eric García found a way to put the ball into the net after a scramble from a corner, and Barça had the lead after 33 minutes. Then fatigue started to set in and Barça made silly mistakes, allowing Kobe to have some joy in attack for the first time in the period.
That’s when Joan Garcia was able to show his abilities as a shot-stopper, making very impressive interventions on shots from close range, a big one-on-one chance, and a couple of moments that required his work as a sweeper keeper.
The big one-on-one chance came after a mistake from Pau Cubarsí that created a Kobe counter-attack, and after Garcia’s impressive stop the Blaugrana couldn’t control the rebound and Taisei Miyashiro found the back of the net to give the home fans a reason to cheer just before halftime.
SECOND HALF
Flick started a whole new XI in the second half — including new signings Marcus Rashford and Roony Bardghji — and with a surprise at left-back as young Jofre Torrents got the nod ahead of Gerard Martín.
Rashford was hungry and direct from the get-go, running hard at the Kobe backline and combining with his teammates. His first few passes and attempts didn’t quite come off, but his impact was felt early and often. He also should have had a penalty when he was clearly tackled inside the box, but the referee somehow missed it because, well, it’s preseason.
Roony Bardghji also got involved in the action, holding his width well on the right wing but picking his moments to move inside and fire a couple of shots on goal. The first went well over the bar, but the second was a perfect curler into the bottom corner off an assist from Robert Lewandowski to open Roony’s account as a Barça player and put the Catalans back in front with 15 minutes to go.
Rashford’s night ended after a half-hour when he was replaced by Dro Fernández, who wasted no time in leaving his mark: the 17-year-old opened his own account in the first team with a brilliant volley from the edge of the box, doubling Barça’s lead and sealing the win for the Blaugrana.
The final whistle came to end a successful night for Barça, who got the victory and were able to give enough playing time to 24 different players in both halves. The first game of preseason is never the most exciting or prettiest to watch, and shaking off the rust is the main goal.
But there’s still a lot to be excited about: Joan Garcia looks like a real player, Marcus Rashford looks hungry and a really good fit, and Roony Bardghji might end up playing more than we expect.
Barça now travel to South Korea for the last two games of their Asian tour, hoping to build on the momentum of a solid start to preseason in Japan. Well done, boys!
Vissel Kobe 1H: Maekawa; Sakai, Yamakawa, Honda (Iwanami 31’), Nagato; Erik, Ideguchi, Ogihara, Hirose; Miyashiro, Sasaki
Vissel Kobe 2H: Arai; Iino, Iwanami, Caetano, Matsuda; Yamauchi, Klismahn, Kuwasaki, Yuruki; Komatsu, Ide
Goals: Miyashiro (43’)
Barcelona 1H: Garcia; Eric, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Gavi, Pedri; Yamal, Fermín, Raphinha; Ferran
Barcelona 2H: Szczesny; Kounde, Araujo, Christensen, Jofre (Martín 78’); De Jong, Casadó; Bardghji, Olmo, Rashford (Dro 78’); Lewandowski
Goals: Eric (33’), Bardghji (77’), Dro (87’)
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