<p class="title">Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is looking forward to taking on his former teammates when his Vissel Kobe meets Barcelona this weekend for a friendly, saying on Friday the face-off will be "an honour."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The match Saturday in the Japanese city of Kobe will be a reunion of sorts, with Barcelona's current line-up facing ex-teammates Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper, all now Vissel players.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It will be the first time Iniesta has met his former team on the pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We all feel that it is such an honour to play Barca," Iniesta told reporters through a Japanese translator.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The team, Barcelona, is special... It will be a very important match for us," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">World Cup-winning Iniesta, who lifted 32 major trophies with Barcelona, signed for Kobe last May in a historic J-League deal worth a reported $30 million a year. The 34-year-old was appointed the team's captain in April.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The friendly is Barca's last match in Japan before they head home, and midfielder Sergio Busquets said the chance to meet Iniesta on the pitch "means a lot" to the players.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now he is in Japan and having new experiences. But it does not change the fact that he is a very important friend still," Busquets said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now I am giving him these kind words, but tomorrow on the pitch I won't be able to be like this. We will fight with full strength."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The match comes after Chelsea defeated Barcelona 2-1 in their friendly in Saitama north of Tokyo earlier this week in a game that saw the unofficial debuts of World Cup-winning French striker Antoine Griezmann and former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Manager Ernesto Valverde said he wanted to see the new arrivals getting used to playing with the team and hoped for a better result for Saturday's match.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm sure you saw the game the other day, in which they both played. I want them to play better than that with other players," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defender Gerard Pique will not play on Saturday as a precaution due to discomfort in his left thigh, Valverde said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Iniesta's signing was viewed as a timely boost to the J-League, which once attracted luminaries such as Brazilian great Zico and former England striker Gary Lineker when it began in 1993 but has struggled to tempt marquee players in recent years.</p>
<p class="title">Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta is looking forward to taking on his former teammates when his Vissel Kobe meets Barcelona this weekend for a friendly, saying on Friday the face-off will be "an honour."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The match Saturday in the Japanese city of Kobe will be a reunion of sorts, with Barcelona's current line-up facing ex-teammates Iniesta, David Villa and Sergi Samper, all now Vissel players.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It will be the first time Iniesta has met his former team on the pitch.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We all feel that it is such an honour to play Barca," Iniesta told reporters through a Japanese translator.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The team, Barcelona, is special... It will be a very important match for us," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">World Cup-winning Iniesta, who lifted 32 major trophies with Barcelona, signed for Kobe last May in a historic J-League deal worth a reported $30 million a year. The 34-year-old was appointed the team's captain in April.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The friendly is Barca's last match in Japan before they head home, and midfielder Sergio Busquets said the chance to meet Iniesta on the pitch "means a lot" to the players.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now he is in Japan and having new experiences. But it does not change the fact that he is a very important friend still," Busquets said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Now I am giving him these kind words, but tomorrow on the pitch I won't be able to be like this. We will fight with full strength."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The match comes after Chelsea defeated Barcelona 2-1 in their friendly in Saitama north of Tokyo earlier this week in a game that saw the unofficial debuts of World Cup-winning French striker Antoine Griezmann and former Ajax midfielder Frenkie de Jong.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Manager Ernesto Valverde said he wanted to see the new arrivals getting used to playing with the team and hoped for a better result for Saturday's match.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"I'm sure you saw the game the other day, in which they both played. I want them to play better than that with other players," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defender Gerard Pique will not play on Saturday as a precaution due to discomfort in his left thigh, Valverde said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Iniesta's signing was viewed as a timely boost to the J-League, which once attracted luminaries such as Brazilian great Zico and former England striker Gary Lineker when it began in 1993 but has struggled to tempt marquee players in recent years.</p>