Rashford emulates Raphinha's start in the 24/25 Champions League

Published New:22/10/2025 - 22:07h

Updated New:22/10/2025 - 22:07h

Marcus Rashford reached 4 goals in the Champions League after his brace against Olympiacos. At this point last season, Raphinha had identical numbers to the Englishman in the tournament

FC Barcelona has found in Marcus Rashford a fundamental support for the offensive trident. Faced with the injuries of Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski, the Englishman has taken charge of the Barça's offense, participating in 5 of the 9 goals scored by the team in the UEFA Champions League.

Rashford scored twice against Newcastle (1-2) and Olympiacos (6-1). In addition, he provided an assist against Paris Saint-Germain. Before signing for Barça, the '14' had a streak of 12 games without scoring in the Champions League, 8 with Manchester United and 4 with Aston Villa.

Previously, he scored 12 goals in 25 appearances with the 'red devils', also providing 6 assists. 'Rashy's' level is starting to look much more like his best version at Old Trafford, between 2022 and 2023.

Raphinha also scored 4 goals in the first 3 matchdays of the Champions League in 2024

In that sense, 'Rashy's' performance already equals what Raphinha did the previous year. At least in the first three matchdays of the Champions League. The '14' was a starter against Newcastle, PSG, and Olympiacos, being the MVP of matchday 1. Rafa also did the same in 24/25, with a consecrating performance in MD3 against Bayern.

This season, Rashford has accumulated 4 goals and 1 assist in the first 3 matchdays of the Champions League, distributed as follows:

2 goals against Newcastle (matchday 1)
1 assist against PSG (matchday 2)
2 goals against Olympiacos (matchday 3)

Raphinha, meanwhile, also started last season with identical records in the Champions League between matchday 1 and 3:

He didn't score or assist against Monaco (matchday 1)
1 goal and 1 assist against Young Boys (matchday 2)
3 goals against Bayern Munich (matchday 3)

After his 'hat-trick' against the Bavarians, the '11' of the 'azulgranas' also scored against Red Star, Dortmund, and Benfica in the group stage. From the round of 16 onwards, he scored in 4 of the 6 matches of the KO phase. Finally, the Brazilian was the top scorer of the tournament with 13 goals, tied with Serhou Guirassy (BVB).

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Barça players celebrating one of the goals against Newcastle (1-2)

In total, Marcus has 5 goals and 5 assists in his first 12 games with Barcelona. No other player has participated in as many goals as the Englishman, who currently shares the scoring lead with Ferran Torres and the assist lead with Lamine Yamal.

At this point in 24/25, Raphinha also had 5 goals in the League and 3 assists, that is, the Porto Alegre native achieved 10 goals and 4 goal passes in the first 12 games of the season. Not in vain, he closed the year with 34 goals and 23 assists, also being the MVP of LaLiga.

The '11', this season, has seen his performance diminished by an injury that made him miss the last 4 games with Flick's team. On Sunday he will be available against Real Madrid, probably as a substitute, while Rashford will face his first Clásico as a starter with the 'culés'.