Image Credit: @FCBarcelona Twitter
Safe to say Marcus Rashford’s summer loan move to Barcelona has worked out brilliantly for the player and the club. Marcus Rashford since joining Barcelona in July of this year has taken some time adjusting to life playing for the Spanish Giants but as now going into the 2nd international break of this season, Marcus Rashford has been Barca’s best and most consistent attacker with 8 goal contributions in last 8 games for the club in all competitions. There were some that felt Rashford wasn’t good enough to play for Barcelona and there were Man Utd legends like Teddy Sheringham who felt that the Englishman Forward does not deserve a move to a club like Barcelona. It is safe to say thus far that Marcus Rashford is proving his doubters’ wrong game after game.
Pre-Season and Opening Fixtures
Coming into a Barcelona team that is coming off the back of a treble winning season is no easy task especially with the players that play in the Rashford’s positions being Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Lamine Yamal who have a combined goal contribution of 148. Rashford had a slow start to his Pre-Season tour with Barcelona in their opening 2 Pre-Season friendlies against Vissel Kobe and FC Seoul however 3rd time was indeed the charm as in Barcelona’s following friendly match against Daegu FC, Marcus Rashford scored Barca’s 5th goal in their 5-0 victory. That was enough for Barca manager, Hansi Flick, to reward Rashford with his first start for Barcelona in their final Pre-Season friendly against Italian club Como where the 27-year-old registered his first assist for the club. The season then got underway with the English International only managing 1 start in Barca’s opening 3 games and failing to register a single goal contribution however his performances were good enough to warrant a call up by England Head Coach Thomas Tuchel for International Duties.
International Break
England were set for World Cup Qualifying matches against Andorra and Serbia during the September international break. Rashford did start in the game against Andorra however the now Barca Forward struggled to have an effect in the game and was dropped to the bench for England’s following game against Serbia. Rashford did come off the bench that game and took England’s penalty and subsequently scored England’s 5th and final goal of the game. Don’t think many people would have guessed that one penalty goal would kickstart Rashford’s red hot form in La Liga and the Champions League.
8 G/A in 7 Games
With Lamine Yamal picking up an injury while on International Duty with Spain, Marcus Rashford was put in the starting XI in Barcelona’s first game back against Valencia. Rashford got his La Liga assist by setting up Raphinha’s for Barcelona’s 2nd goal of the game which ended in a 6-0 victory for the Spanish Giants. What followed in the Champions League game against Newcastle United can only be described as the arrival of Marcus Rashford, the 27-year-old forward scored Barcelona’s only 2 goals of the game in a 2-1 victory at Saint James’ Park with the highlight being Marcus Rashford’s 2nd goal being an outside of the box screamer. Rashford continued his form by coming off the bench in the 2nd half in Barca’s game against Getafe and secured another La Liga Assist by setting up Dani Olmo’s goal putting Barcelona 3-0 up sealing their victory. Rashford then proceeded to start in Barca’s next game against Real Oviedo where the English International once again secured an assist via a corner for Ronald Araujo’s goal and Barca’s 3rd which secured their 3-1 victory as well as all the 3 points. Just as Lamine Yamal returned from his injury, Raphinha picked up his own injury which once again threw Marcus Rashford in the starting XI against Real Sociedad where he opened the scoring by once again securing another corner assist courtesy of a Jules Koundé header. Rashford returned to the Champions League to secure another assist against Paris Saint Germain in an unfortunate 2-1 defeat to the Spanish giants and finally scored his first La Liga goal against Sevilla in a shocking 4-1 defeat.
13 G/A in 16 Games
Following the defeat to Sevilla, football went into the October international break where Rashford was called up once again to represent England in Thomas Tuchel’s team however in Rashford’s 2 outings he did not manage to continue his goal contributing form. This however had no bearing on his form in Spain as after the international break Rashford and Barcelona got right back into winning form with a late 2-1 winner over Girona, and followed that up with a dominant display in the Champions League against Olympiacos in a 6-1 victory thrashing on the Greece side which saw Marcus Rashford score 2 of Barcelona’s 6 goals. The Spanish giants were then set for their biggest game of any season, El Clasico against rivals Real Madrid. Marcus Rashford did start the game and contributed an assist towards to Fermin Lopez’s equaliser however Real Madrid edged towards to 2-1 victory over the Catalan giants. That huge disappointment aside did not stop Rashford’s form as the Englishman went on to score Barcelona’s 3rd and final goal in a 3-1 victory over Elche. Barcelona were once again back in the Champions League and were set to face Club Brugge however this was the first Champions League game were Rashford was not directly involved in any of the goals in their 3-3 draw against the Belgium side. Right before the November international break, Marcus Rashford went on to take his place as current joint Top Assists Provider in La Liga with 6 assists following his brace of assists in Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Celta Vigo which saw the now 28-year-old setup both of Robert Lewandoski’s goals. From a rough steady start to now being an indispensable part of Hansi’s Flick’s team, Marcus Rashford has really made this Barcelona loan move his own and it is seemingly more likely game after game that Rashford may become a permanent player in Barcelona colours.
Stats Summary
Marcus Rashford across all competitions this season:
806 minutes played
16 Games played
6 Goals
7 Assists
62 minutes per G/A
