Andrés Iniesta left Barcelona in 2018 and went to the other side of the world, to Japan, to never have to play against the team of his life. A year later, Barça toured Asia and they met for the first time. Coinciding with the fifth anniversary of his signing, the Blaugrana team went back to Tokyo but for a very different reason, to play one of the farewell games for Fuentealbilla's Vissel Kobe.
If last May, once the League was over, Barcelona went to Australia, this time they flew directly from Vigo to the Japanese capital. For the friendly the club received 3 million. It was a special day for the 39-year-old man from La Mancha, who embraced Xavi in the changing room tunnel. Both shared 13 seasons in the midfield of the first team, the most glorious of the club. But time passes and Iniesta found himself asking Gavi, 18, for the shirt. "If not, my children will kill me," he explained before starting the game.
To enter the field of play, the Vissel captain jumped surrounded by four of his children and with the fifth, the youngest, Olimpia, in his arms.
Almost in the blink of an eye, Iniesta saw how his team was already losing 0-2. It was above all thanks to the interventions of Pablo Torre. The Spaniard already shot at the post in minute 2 and after fifteen minutes he got a great assist to leave Kessié alone, who beat the Japanese goalkeeper from below. Immediately afterwards, Torre once again showed his great beating by serving a corner kick that Eric Garcia finished off with a header, chopped into the net.
The man from Santander, who has only played 338 minutes this season with the seniors, took advantage of the friendly postseason to shine and show his quality, without knowing if next season he will have a place or he will have to look for opportunities outside. The two who took advantage of their shipments do not have a guaranteed future at Barcelona either.
Xavi made his debut for Mexican right-back Araújo, who could not be registered on January 31 and has not played since. The first minutes also coincided with the premiere of Pau Prim and Dani Rodríguez, two youth players. The first, born in 2006, is a promising organizer, who played the entire game since Busquets stayed in Barcelona. The second, from Gipuzkoa, is a left-handed winger who plays on the right and has even tried his shot.
Led by Iniesta and Samper, Vissel stretched and both Fuentealbilla and the Catalan came close to scoring. Then it was Lincoln and Yuruki who found themselves with a great Iñaki Peña, another one who has played the least and who wanted to make himself noticed saving three clear chances.
Koundé, Gavi, Ferran Torres and Raphinha came on at half-time and there were two other youth debuts: Héctor Fort, who displaced Araújo to the left, and Marc Guiu, a powerful center forward who replaced Lewandowski. But the one who was closest to the goal was another young man, Unai Hernández, at the center of the incisive Fort, but the marker did not move.
In the 80th minute, the ovation came from the National Stadium in Tokyo, venue for the 2020 Games, to Iniesta, who gave up the captain's armband and left also applauding the public. Xavi, his great partner in the field, was waiting for him in the band, to melt into another hug. On July 1, the genius from Fuentealbilla will say goodbye to Japan but not to football.
