Two youngsters knock loudly on Flick's door at his Japanese debut.

BarcelonaWith virtually no time to try the famous Kobe beef, Barça took to the Noevir Stadium for the first match of an Asian Tour fraught with uncertainty. Hansi Flick's team, debuting their new kit, showed intensity and clarity, both in their ball-playing and in their pressing after losses, despite playing against a team in the midst of the Japanese league. Goals from Eric García, Roony Bardghji, and Dro gave Asia its first win (1-3) in a match marked by the debuts of Rashford and Joan Garcia.

A preseason not without its problems, something that has become commonplace for the Blaugrana club. Problems with the promoter forced the Barça team to postpone their trip to Japan for 24 hours, risking the cancellation of the match against Vissel Kobe. Once this conflict was resolved, thanks to Rakuten, the doubts were passed on to the fans. Where could the match be watched? Unlike other seasons, TV3 didn't acquire the rights to the preseason (with the exception of the Joan Gamper Trophy), and the Catalans had to find their own way. Due to problems with the platform, Premium Culés, the only way was to pay a subscription to the club's YouTube channel.

Joan Garcia, who wore the number 1, made his debut with the Barça shirt in a strong starting eleven led by Hansi Flick with Raphinha as captain and where Lewandowski started on the bench with Marcus RashfordAnother new feature was Lamine Yamal wearing the number 10 on his back. The Rocafonda winger, eager to redeem himself after the criticism of his summer, was one of the most active in the first half, constantly taking on his opponents.

Joan Garcia demonstrates his level

As if summer had never happened, Eric García, who found the net five times last season, emerged as the first scorer of this Asian Tour. Fermín took a corner, which the Martorell defender headed home after a series of rebounds. A goal, however, would have been ruled out by VAR for handball by the Catalan center-back. The only negative note in the first half was Pau Cubarsí, who made some errors in his ball movement. Vissel Kobe took advantage of one of those actions to tie the match. Joan Garcia made a great save against Sasaki to prevent the goal, but he was unable to do anything about it after a point-blank shot from Miyashiro. The goalkeeper from Sallent capped his first appearance for Barça with a fine save to deny a cross from the Japanese side.

Rashford and Bardghji debuts

After problems with the club's platform, Barça opted to open the YouTube link to everyone for free. Thus, those who didn't pay to watch the first half were rewarded with the opportunity to watch Rashford and Bardghji's debuts as Barça players. Hansi Flick's team came out equally engaged, with Christensen and Marc Casadó playing very intensely. Young left-back Jofre Torrents also played well, later cedeing his place to Gerard Martín, who arrived after surgery. As for the new signings, Marcus Rashford was very active, looking for diagonal runs from the wing to finish inside and threading passes to Lewandowski and Bardghji. The Nordic gem tried a few shots and was rewarded. The Polish striker provided an assist for the Swedish winger to perfectly finish and make it 2-1. Barça closed out the first preseason test with a goal from 'Dro', one of Hansi Flick's bets, after hooking the ball from the edge of the area (1-3).