Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard heaved a sigh of relief after the Blues defeated Barcelona 2-1 in Tuesday’s Rakuten Cup in Japan.
Results under Lampard in friendlies prior to the meeting with Barca were mixed, with the Blues held to a draw with Irish outfit Bohemians and losing to Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale either side of a win over St Patrick’s Athletic.
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But success against Barcelona will give all concerned at Stamford Bridge a big confidence boost, with Tammy Abraham bouncing back from a shocking first-half miss to open the scoring before Barkley fired home from the edge of the area with 10 minutes remaining.
Ivan Rakitic pulled a goal back in stoppage time, but it was too little, too late for the Spanish champions.
Barca were without their South American players who took part in the Copa America — including Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez — but they did hand a debut to €120 million signing Antoine Griezmann. There was a first Chelsea start for U.S international Christian Pulisic.
Griezmann, who came off at half-time with a minor injury, came closest to opening the scoring in the early stages as the Catalans took control of the possession.
However, it was Chelsea who began to create the better chances. Abraham somehow missed an open goal from six yards but made amends in the 34th minute when he broke the deadlock after rounding Marc-Andre ter Stegen after Jorginho had charged down Busquets.
Ousmane Dembele tested Kepa Arrizabalaga on the stroke of half-time before Barca made 11 changes at the break, including handing a debut to Frenkie de Jong. Chelsea made just two substitutes.
Barca were without their South American players who took part in the Copa America — including Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez — but they did hand a debut to €120 million signing Antoine Griezmann. There was a first Chelsea start for U.S international Christian Pulisic.
Griezmann, who came off at half-time with a minor injury, came closest to opening the scoring in the early stages as the Catalans took control of the possession.
However, it was Chelsea who began to create the better chances. Abraham somehow missed an open goal from six yards but made amends in the 34th minute when he broke the deadlock after rounding Marc-Andre ter Stegen after Jorginho had charged down Busquets.
Ousmane Dembele tested Kepa Arrizabalaga on the stroke of half-time before Barca made 11 changes at the break, including handing a debut to Frenkie de Jong. Chelsea made just two substitutes.
