Marcus Rashford leveraged a good end to the international break with a lift-off performance against Valencia in a 6-0 win for Barcelona.
The international break was an interesting time for Marcus Rashford, with Thomas Tuchel giving a worrying sign after the first game before praising him for the second.
Rashford needs to be at his best this season to convince Barcelona to trigger his buy option, but he has gone off the boil a bit recently.
However, in the first game back after the international break, Barcelona blew away Valencia 6-0, and Rashford’s ‘wonder’ moment caught the eye.
Marcus Rashford catches the eye for Barcelona
Any time a team wins 6-0, it’s a given that the attackers of the winning team had a nice day out.
That was exactly the case for Barcelona, as Robert Lewandowski, Fermin Lopez, and Raphinha helped themselves to two goals each.
Despite not being in the thick of the goalscoring, Rashford arguably had the moment of the game when he assisted Raphinha’s goal.
It was the 53rd minute of the game, and Barcelona’s lead was still just 1-0.
Rashford found himself on the wing and picked out an unbelievable pass that sliced through seven Valencia players.
He found Raphinha in the box barely three yards away from goal, and the Brazilian did the rest to score Barcelona’s second and open the floodgates.
Rashford created the most chances in the game (three), and despite playing 68 minutes, looked like a livewire every time he had the ball.
Rashford has quickly won admirers in Spain because, even though his raw output leaves something to be desired, his effort can’t be faulted.
After he assisted Raphinha against Valencia, even the raw output counter started moving, so the praise was plenty for the Man Utd academy graduate.
AS said, Rashford’s cross for Raphinha was ‘delightful’, adding that his desire to make things happen for the team was ‘undeniable’.
Adding a video of Rashford’s assist in another piece, AS said it was a ‘wonder’ piece of play, ‘invented’ by the attacker. He revelled in it.
Marca picked out Rashford and Lewandowski as the two protagonists who ‘put the pressure’ on Valencia, which is quite a praise considering Rashford didn’t score.
Mundo Deportivo also raved about Rashford’s ‘great pass’, saying that he’s gradually getting used to the league and his teammates, which is an ominous sign for the rest of the teams.
Rashford’s next game will be against English opposition as Barcelona travel to face Newcastle in the Champions League on September 18.(United in Focus)
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