Vissel Kobe vs Barcelona

New National Stadium in Tokyo plays host to an exciting friendly encounter between Japenese outfit Vissel Kobe and new La Liga champions Barcelona.

Kobe’s free-scoring first-half showing paved the way for a goal-glutted 3-2 home win over Tokyo at the weekend, cementing their place at the top of the J1 League standings and bolstering their spirits ahead of this mouth-watering exhibition match against Barcelona. Adding to the Japanese side’s confidence, they head into proceedings unbeaten in seven consecutive games in all competitions (W5, D2). Considering they netted at least two goals in five of those seven outings, the best defensive team in the 2022/23 La Liga season won’t face an easy task. Moreover, Takayuki Yoshida’s men have kept a clean sheet in three of their last five matches, suggesting they could be a tough nut to crack on a good day.

Meanwhile, Barcelona earned the league title for the first time since 2018/19, leaving second-placed Real Madrid a whopping ten points behind after only losing three of their 34 La Liga fixtures (W27, D4, L3). However, since being crowned champions, Xavi Hernandez’s lads have suffered three defeats in four league matches (W1), including a dismal 2-1 loss at bottom-half Celta Vigo last time out. It’s also worth noting that they’ve conceded 2+ goals in four of their last five La Liga games. They shipped a total of nine goals during that five-match sequence, having previously let in just 11 in the opening 33 rounds. Attacking-wise, the ‘Blaugrana’ have flattered to deceive, scoring under 1.5 goals in three of their last four fixtures.