Major U-turn: Barcelona set to travel to Japan with friendly vs Vissel Kobe back on | OneFootball

In a major shift, FC Barcelona will travel to Japan this Thursday afternoon to begin their pre-season tour, reports Jijantes.

On Wednesday evening, Barcelona made an announcement confirming the cancellation of the trip to Japan due to a contractual breach by the promoter of the friendly match against Vissel Kobe.

Instead, the players were called in to train at the Ciutat Esportiva while the games in South Korea were said to go ahead as per plans.

That move triggered a reaction in Japan and, according to the report, the Blaugrana’s former shirt sponsors and partners, Rakuten, played a key role by stepping in to cover the outstanding payment to the club.

Barcelona will fly to Japan and play vs Vissel Kobe. (Photo by Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

As such, the team will now make the trip to Japan after all. Barcelona’s strategy appears to have pressured the promoter, and although the trip was initially ruled out, the club will now travel on Thursday with a delay of several hours.

The players, having shown up for training, are now undestood to be packing for the trip and will be on the flight for Japan later today.

The match against Vissel Kobe remains scheduled to be played at 12:00 (Spanish time) on Sunday.

Following that, Barcelona will travel to South Korea, where they will play two more pre-season friendlies. They will then take on Como in the Joan Gamper Trophy before the start of the 2025/26 season against Mallorca.