The morning after the night before. From a 70,000 crowd at Yokohama International Stadium to a very quiet morning at the 15,000-capacity NACK5 Stadium, formerly known as the Omiya Football Stadium, home of Omiya Ardija, a J.League 2 team.

This was our first visit to this new training venue in Saitama, close to the 63,000 venue in which we will face Barcelona on Tuesday night. The setup here is very similar to that at our previous training centre – compact, tidy and also home to a J.League 2 side (Omiya Ardija are fourth, one point off the top, Yokohama FC are ninth) and with largely open seating on all four sides.

The morning’s session was light, as is standard after a match, focused more on recovery than building fitness for the season ahead.

For the first time on this trip, most of the squad was given the afternoon and evening off for some well-earned relaxation time.

For some though, there remained work to be done. Frank Lampard was accompanied by Nike-sponsored David Luiz and Christian Pulisic to a special event in Harajuku in downtown Tokyo.

Inside a dedicated football shop (Tokyo has many), they met specially invited Chelsea fans, each of whom had won a competition for this incredible access to their heroes.

Following a Q & A in which the trio looked forward to the Barcelona game and thanked the locals for their phenomenal support, they offered signatures and selfies to their starstruck audience. There were further cheers as the event drew to a close, with the smiles on locals' faces clear for all to see.

For Pulisic, it was his first public engagement as a Chelsea player. It was fantastic to see he appears just as popular this side of the Pacific Ocean as he is on the other. He wore the number 24 shirt on his debut on Friday night, which is not confirmed as his squad number yet. Whichever one he chooses, there are sure to be plenty of Blues all over the world with his name on their backs.