FC Barcelona opted for Marcus Rashford as their new reinforcement for the left side of Hansi Flick's attack. The 27-year-old forward comes from scoring 142 goals in 444 official matches at club level in England and hopes to regain his best version in Spain.
After a six-month loan to Aston Villa where he left very good impressions in 17 appearances (he added 4 goals and 6 assists), Barça gives the Englishman the confidence to shield an offense that was capable of scoring 173 goals in 60 matches in the 24/25 season.
Rashford, although he is a natural left winger, can also play without problems on the right or as an area reference. Not in vain, in his time at Villa Park, he was mainly the '9' for Unai Emery's team.
In that sense, there are two individual performances at the international level that serve as an example to see what the former '10' of Manchester United is capable of. At FCBN, we review the two best matches of the British forward in Europe in the recent past.
Rashford vs. PSG: The night he almost eliminated the French giant
Marcus Rashford's last great match in England took place last April 15 in Birmingham. In the return leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, the '9' of Aston Villa was a real headache for the Paris Saint-Germain defense as an area reference.
Although Luis Enrique's team seemed to have the tie resolved with two goals in the first 27 minutes, Unai Emery's team turned the score around and almost forced extra time (3-2, 4-5 on aggregate). Rashford, although he did not score, was able to give an assist, completing 76 minutes at a very high level.
The forward was the first to pressure the Parisian exit, making a remarkable effort to cause errors in the rival's exit, in addition to wearing down the PSG center-backs to free up spaces for Rogers, McGinn and Tielemans, the latter two authors of two of the three 'villain' goals.
In total, Marcus was the leader in opportunities created and dribbles (4), in addition to making two shots on goal and winning 50% of his individual duels (5 out of 10). In Hansi Flick's Barça, he will surely perform a similar 'dirty work' in many matches.
Rashford dazzled at the Camp Nou: his stellar performance against Barcelona
A couple of years earlier, on February 16, 2023, Rashford excelled at the old Spotify Camp Nou, leading the Manchester United attack in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League 'play off'. The team then led by Xavi Hernández could only rescue a draw (2-2) that ended up sealing their elimination a week later.
The culés had taken the lead with a goal from Marcos Alonso in the 50th minute, but the Azulgrana advantage only lasted three minutes. In the 53rd minute, Marcus equalized the actions with a remarkable overflow on the right, easily surpassing Alonso to enter the area and shoot Ter Stegen with a whiplash.
Six minutes later, the 'red devils' took the lead thanks to an own goal by Jules Koundé, also caused by another overflow from the now brand new Barça winger, again on the right. The '10' threw a pass to the heart of the area that the Frenchman ended up putting into his goal when trying to clear.
Although that day Rashford was, in theory, the '9' of United, he finally did a lot of damage as a right winger, freeing up space for Wout Weghorst so that the Dutchman appeared between the center-backs. Finally, in the return leg, United won 2-1 at Old Trafford and advanced to the round of 16. Barça that year was League champion, while the Europa League remained in the showcases of Sevilla.
FOLLOW US ON OUR SOCIAL NETWORKS:
- INSTAGRAM: @fcbarcelonanoticias_com
- FACEBOOK: FCBN
- X (TWITTER): @FCBNOTICIAS
- THREADS: @fcbarcelonanoticias_com