FC Barcelona thrashed Mallorca at Son Moix (0-3) in the official debut of Joan García and Marcus Rashford in LaLiga EA Sports. Both received their federative license on Saturday morning, once their registration was resolved, leaving good feelings in their debut. Especially on the goalkeeper's side.
The Catalan, as in the four preseason friendlies, was a starter and kept his goal at zero for the second consecutive match, considering that the match against Como (5-0) was the only one of the summer in which he played the 90 minutes.
In Mallorca, the '13' was the only player with 100% effectiveness in passes (16 out of 16), showing a lot of security in the exit with the ball. In addition, he had a couple of interventions to preserve his undefeated fence, with 4 balls recovered and a pair of aerial duels won.
Rashford added his first minutes with a Barça 'half-machine'
Rashford, meanwhile, waited for his opportunity on the bench. The Englishman entered for Ferran Torres 20' from the end and was somewhat dull. Contagious, perhaps, by a Barça that greatly lowered the pace of the game and the intensity of the pressure after the two expulsions of the locals in the first half.
Barça was winning 0-2 in 23 minutes and, by 33' they already had two more players on the field due to the reds to Manu Morlanes and Vedat Muriqi. Marcus entered to be the team's '9' and, although he only missed one pass out of 11 possible, he did not shoot on goal in the 25 minutes he was on the field.
A not minor fact, considering that Barça had numerical superiority and a wide advantage in possession (72%). After the match, Hansi Flick sincerely valued the performance of the two azulgranas reinforcements in their debut.
"It hasn't been a good part for Rashford, because there were no spaces. The players have played at 50 percent. And Joan has had a great game. He can continue like this," the coach pointed out.
Joan García: two scares and first clean sheet with Barça
Returning to the azulgrana goalkeeper, Joan García had an afternoon with many emotions in Son Moix. In addition to the debut and the victory, the '13' had a couple of scares before and during the match. First, in the warm-up, he had to return to the locker room due to a problem in his left hand.
"In the end, the Barça goalkeeper seems to have little work but has to be attentive to other things. I was calm, but I would have liked to do it sooner. They transmitted confidence and tranquility to me from the club," said the Sallent native to 'Movistar' after the match.
Then, in the 37th minute, the goalkeeper received a hard tackle from Vedat Muriqi when going out to clear a ball at the edge of the area. The Kosovar raised his leg too much and ended up nailing a flat foot that, luckily, did not fully impact García's face.
Even so, the Catalan ended up with a tremendous bruise, but was able to complete the match without conceding goals. "I haven't seen the play repeated, but it hits me in the face. If the VAR has said it was red, then it will be so. Now I'll put some ice on it," said the '13' azulgrana.
Once the mess of his registration is resolved, Joan will continue working to arrive at the match against Levante at his best. For now, Iñaki Peña is the owner of the '1', but the Alicante native must leave in the final stretch of the summer market. Afterwards, Ter Stegen must recover his number when he receives medical discharge within four or five months.
Regardless of his number, the 24-year-old goalkeeper only wants to be ready to do his job. In the 24/25 season he led LaLiga in saves and his debut with Barcelona has been very positive, despite the scares and the refereeing controversies that never fail.