Chelsea recorded victory over La Liga champions Barcelona in the Rakuten Cup before a crowd of 51,126 at Saitama Stadium, outside Tokyo in Japan.

Goals from Tammy Abrahams and Ross Barkley gave the London club a 2-1 win over the Catalans in a rather lively and entertaining affair in Japan.

Griezmann started as part of an XI consisting of a trio of Frenchmen and seven La Masia products. The German Marc-André ter Stegen started in goal.

Griezmann was getting frequently involved in Barça’s attack and completing several nice passes to create space for his teammates. He also took a hard knock from Jorginho in the middle of the field in the 20th minute, but was quickly back in the game.

Having beaten Irish side St. Patrick’s last week, this was the first real test for new Chelsea boss Frank Lampard. His starting XI edged an almost-even competition in the first half, creating a number of chances before Tammy Abrahams opened the scoring in the 34th minute, capitalising on a major defensive blunder by Sergio Busquets.

Abraham picked up a loose ball in the Barça end and sidestepped Ter Stegen to slot in from 12 meters.

Chelsea doubled their lead in the 81st, when Ross Barkley converted from the edge of the area.

Ivan Rakitic, however, scored Barca’s only goal via a gorgeous long-range volley into the upper left corner in second half injury time.

The Blues now head back to England, where they will face Reading on Sunday.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are to remain in Japan and will face Andres Iniesta’s Vissel Kobe on Saturday.

Photo Credit: Twitter/chelseafc.com

Reports in England claim Callum Hudson-Odoi has finally agreed to sign a five-year deal worth more than £100,000 a week to stay at Stamford Bridge.

The youngster was heavily linked with a move to Bundesliga champions in January, culminating in handing Chelsea a transfer request.

The London club, however, rejected both his transfer request and a £35m bid from Bayern Munich.

And now, according to BBC Sport, he is set to sign a new contract before the start of the season.

The youngster is understood to have been encouraged by positive words from new manager Frank Lampard, who said he wanted Hudson-Odoi to stay.

The teenager, who is recovering from an Achilles injury suffered in April, is on track for a quick return to action, potentially as soon as September.

Throughout the negotiations, playing time is understood to have been the key issue for Hudson-Odoi, who made 24 appearances and scored five goals under former boss Maurizio Sarri last season.

But he had to wait until April to make his first Premier League start, having already made his England debut.

Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea has expressed his desire to captain the club after agreeing a six-year deal at Old Trafford.

The Spain international is set to end the uncertainty over his future by signing a £375,000-a-week contract when the club return from their pre-season tour to Australia, Singapore and China.

Although the deal is still to be officially confirmed, De Gea gave the clearest indication yet that he will be at Old Trafford for the long term by outlining his ambition to succeed Antonio Valencia as captain, report Evening Standard.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is still deciding who to give the armband to after releasing Valencia at the end of last season.

Paul Pogba is also in contention – but De Gea said: “I’ve been captain for some games. It is amazing to be captain of a club like Manchester United and defend this badge.

“Of course I’ll be really, really happy to captain.

“It’s my ninth season, I feel like one of the most experienced players.

“I need to show that on the pitch and try to help the young guys know what Manchester United means and that’s important.

“We have to improve a lot. We are Manchester United, we need to fight for trophies.

“When you put on this badge, that’s what it means – fight for everything, give your best and bring the team again to the top.

“I think this pre-season we’re trying to have more of the ball, to keep the ball, to build from the back, to keep control of the game – things we didn’t have last season.

“We have to improve a lot on this. We are working really hard this pre-season, and hopefully we can show in the first game against Chelsea that we have improved a lot from last season.”

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has accused Gareth Bale of refusing to play for Los Blancos as the fallout continues over the club’s attempts to force the Welshman to leave Spain.

Bale’s agent said earlier this week that the Madrid head coach was a “disgrace” for saying it would be “best for everyone” if the 30-year-old left the club soon.

Zidane’s comments came after Bale did not feature in the club’s 3-1 pre-season defeat by Bayern Munich in the United States.

Speaking in Washington on Monday night, Zidane said he wanted to clarify the situation as he claimed that Bale did not play against Bayern because he had refused to get changed for the match, report the Daily Telegraph.

“At times my Spanish is very suspect,” Zidane said.

“I want to be very clear about this. Firstly, I have not disrespected anybody and least of all the player. I have always said the same, the players are the most important and every time I am with a player here I will be with them always.

“The second thing, I said the club is trying to sell him. Third point, I think it is very important and crucial to say that the other day Gareth did not change because he did not want to.”

Madrid face Arsenal on Tuesday night and Bale trained with the squad on Monday.

“Gareth is a Real Madrid player,” said Zidane. “That is the most important thing, he is a player for the squad.”

Juventus have been slammed over the club’s alleged directive that Old Lady’s players were ‘forbidden’ to talk about the Cristiano Ronaldo rape case amid reports that United States prosecutors have declared that the Portuguese star will not face criminal charges over the matter.

Kathryn Mayorga, 35, accused the former Real Madrid star he had attacked in her a Sin City suite in 2009.

The footballer had vehemently denied her accusations.

On Monday, the Clark County District Attorney’s Office said it had made a decision not to prosecute as “the allegations of sexual assault against Cristiano Ronaldo cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Detailing the case, calling Mayorga ‘V’ prosecutors explained their decision, report the Mirror.

According to her court papers, Mayorga said she went to a nightclub called Rain in the Palms Hotel and was allegedly invited by Ronaldo to go back to his 57th-floor penthouse along with a group of people.

She alleged some of the guests opted to use the hot tub on the suite’s balcony, and the superstar allegedly offered her clothing to wear because she didn’t have a swimsuit.

She said he gave her athletic shorts and a T-shirt and suggested she change in the bathroom.

The ex-model, who is now in hiding after receiving death threats from the footballer’s fans, then claims after asking to leave he sexually assaulted her.

Meanwhile, former player of the club, Petronella Ekroth says being at Juventus was like being ‘in prison’ as her teammates were ‘forbidden’ to talk about the rape case.

Ekroth helped Juve win the women’s Scudetto last season but has since returned to her native Sweden with Djurgardens.

In an interview with Expressen, she hit out at the Bianconeri for silencing her over the allegations of sexual assault levelled at Ronaldo.

“We were forbidden to talk about the case. We stayed silent and we couldn’t mention it. The only thing to do was keep a low profile and work towards the club’s values,” said the defender as cited by Football Italia.

“I kept myself closeted because I felt that my opinions didn’t count. It felt a bit like I was in prison. I really couldn’t do everything I wanted.

“You can show one side of the coin, but there is much more that remains hidden, things that unfortunately can’t be talked about, shown and so on.