Barcelona vs Chelsea: Preview, possible line ups, head-to-head, date, time, venue
- Barcelona vs Chelsea will square up in a pre-season clash - the Rakuten Cup on Tuesday
- The Spanish side were knocked out in the semi finals of the Champions while Chelsea won the Europa League
- Barcelona will miss the service of Lionel Messi and other stars that played in the Copa America 2019
Spanish champions Barcelona trade tackles with Europa League winners Chelsea in a pre-season clash - the Rakuten Cup on Tuesday, July 23, at Saitama Stadium in Japan.
The fixture will be Barcelona's first game after returning from holiday, with mostly B team squad players in the travelling delegation, a good platform for the youngsters to showcase their talent ahead of the 2019-20 La Liga campaign.
On the other end, Chelsea manger Lampard may opt to try out new tactics with his players as he tries to fashion a winning formula, with the Blues facing a transfer ban ahead of Premier League and Champions League campaign.
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Interestingly, if the result of previous matches between these two clubs is taken into account, Tuesday's match up will definitely be a cracker to watch.
Team news
Barcelona
Barcelona will be without the likes of Lionel Messi, Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez after the Copa America. were handed an extended holiday and have been left out of the travelling Barcelona squad.
Chelsea
Chelsea missed Tammy Abraham and goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga against Kawasaki Frontale no thanks to illness.
In addition, N'Golo Kante has returned to the UK to treatment on a knee injury he cropped season. The French midfielder has been not featured in Chelsea's pre-season at the last count.
The Blues will also not have the likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Willian and Antonio Rudiger as they are still recovering from various injuries.
Possible starting XI
Barcelona: Neto; Semedo, Todibo, Umtiti, Alba; Monchu, Busquets, De Jong; Malcom, Abe, Griezmann.
Chelsea : Caballero; Azpilicueta, Zouma, Christensen, Alonso; Barkley, Mount, Bakayoko; Pedro, Kenedy, Giroud.
Match: Barcelona vs Chelsea (the Rakuten Cup)
Date: Tuesday, July 23
Venue: Saitama Stadium , Japan
Kick-Off: 11:30 (BST)
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Earlier, Legit.ng reported that N'Golo Kante has dealt Chelsea a heavy injury setback after he was sent home from the club’s pre-season tour of Japan.
According to the Mirror, Chelsea manager Frank Lampard was looking forward to have Kante at the start of the new Premier League season, but the Frenchman was forced to head back to the UK after suffering a setback with his knee injury.
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