{"id":574605,"date":"2026-04-09T21:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574605\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T21:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:06:08","slug":"hyperactive-marcus-rashford-showing-his-class-but-could-barca-be-getting-even-more-marcus-rashford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/574605\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Hyperactive\u2019 Marcus Rashford showing his class, but could Bar\u00e7a be getting even more? | Marcus Rashford"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of Barcelona\u2019s 2-1 win at Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Saturday night<\/a>, as the players stood celebrating before the small pocket of supporters applauding them from high in the north-west corner of the Metropolitano, Diego Simeone approached Hansi Flick, shook his hand and reminded him of something: \u201cYou\u2019ve got to come back.\u201d It came as an invitation, born of admiration, and also a warning. This was only the start of a trilogy in which they face each other three times in 10 days, and the concluding chapter there would be different.<\/p>\n

A different competition, for a start. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski, the latter on 89 minutes, had virtually secured Barcelona the league title but it was going to get bigger and mean more. Atl\u00e9tico, already adrift, had rested players; the last time Barcelona had been there \u2013 in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg \u2013 they had beaten them 4-0<\/a>; and the next time the Catalan club came it would be the Champions League quarter-final, second leg. And, back in the Metropolitano, that really would be a battle: tougher than this and, it turns out, tougher than anyone had imagined.<\/p>\n

At full-time on Wednesday night, Simeone didn\u2019t make for Flick. Instead, he headed straight up the tunnel, leaving his players out there at the Camp Nou, where he had seen his team beat Barcelona for the first time. (Last year\u2019s 2-1 away win<\/a> was at Montjuic). Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s coach had hoped that Part II would do what the second instalment of a trilogy is supposed to do: set up the third. He couldn\u2019t have expected it to be as well set as this. It was enough to be in it, for Barcelona to know they would have come back to a place where Atl\u00e9tico had put four past them and five past Real Madrid. Now on top of that they have a 2-0 lead<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not over,\u201d Flick said, and Simeone agreed, or said he did. \u201cWe can take the game away from anybody,\u201d Rashford said. After all, that 4-0 Copa del Rey loss had been followed by a 3-0 win, Barcelona<\/a> coming so close to an astonishing second leg comeback. But that was at the Camp Nou; this time they would have to do it away, and with lessons learned by both sides. Simeone, asked whether he would rather have to prepare a team mentally for a comeback or to protect an advantage, said the advantage of course: \u201cIt\u2019s just common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the history of the Champions League only once has a team overturned a 2-0 home defeat from the first leg. That\u2019s the bad news for Barcelona; the good news is that one of them has been here before. In 2019, Rashford\u2019s late penalty knocked out Paris Saint-Germain, seeing Manchester United through. Seven years on, he said they had done enough to have secured a better result in the first leg and they needed to replicate parts of the performance, if not the score, in the second.<\/p>\n

Marcus Rashford scores a penalty to give Manchester United an aggregate win at Paris Saint-Germain in 2019. Photograph: TF-Images\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mindset and intent of this team are unbelievable and we\u2019re going to need all of that in the next game in order to come back,\u201d Rashford said. \u201cThis team is always going to create chances because we have so much quality. Today the goals did not go in but we cannot shy away from the responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rashford had felt that more clearly than anyone. Barcelona had 18 shots to Atl\u00e9tico\u2019s five, and Rashford had been the dominant attacking figure from the start. Minute two, he cut inside and had his shot saved by Juan Musso. Minute four, again he was denied by Musso, one on one. Minute 14, he volleyed wide. Minute 17, he scored \u2026 but the flag went up. Minute 30, he was denied by Musso again. Minute 50, played in by Lamine Yamal, his shot missed the near post. Minute 52, he smashed a free-kick off the bar. And that was just the shots, seven inside an hour.<\/p>\n

He had flown up the left, Barcelona\u2019s play turned his way. He had been \u201chyperactive\u201d, AS wrote. \u201cTireless on the wing, generating danger,\u201d Sport said. Mundo Deportivo called this an \u201cexhibition of speed\u201d, giving him full marks. This was his best performance of the season, yet there was regret. \u201cWe have to be more clinical,\u201d he said. \u201cIn essence, this can be explained by saying that Rashford is not Luis Su\u00e1rez,\u201d judged El Peri\u00f3dico.<\/p>\n

When Rashford arrived in the summer he was a back-up option. Barcelona had long liked the look of him but they had also pursued Nico Williams and Luis D\u00edaz before him. His arrival on loan from Manchester United was explained, in large part, by the comparative ease and economy with which a deal could be done, although there was a struggle to register him<\/a> in compliance with La Liga\u2019s salary limits. He also came to add versatility and depth to a forward line that had finished last season looking overstretched.<\/p>\n

With Robert Lewandowski, Lamine Yamal and Raphinha in place, there was little anticipation that he would be a starter. But there was also the opportunity for things to change. He was theoretically an alternative to all three forwards, able to play left, right and centre, and injury and rotation would offer the chance to change his status, to get regular playing time. Meanwhile a \u20ac30m (\u00a326m) buy clause meant the deal could be made permanent.<\/p>\n

Quick GuideBarcelona make complaint to Uefa over handballShow<\/p>\n

Barcelona have lodged a formal complaint on Thursday over the officiating in their 2-0 Champions League home defeat by Atl\u00e9tico Madrid.<\/p>\n

The row centres on an incident early in the second half of the quarter-final, first-leg tie. Bar\u00e7a appealed for a penalty after the Atl\u00e9tico goalkeeper, Juan Musso, appeared to have put the ball back into play from a goal kick before defender Marc Pubill handled it inside the six-yard box to retake it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Referee Istvan Kovacs waved play on and the VAR team did not summon him to the monitor, drawing furious reactions from the Barcelona bench. A statement said: ‘the club legal services have submitted a complaint to Uefa today regarding the events in the Champions League [tie] against Atl\u00e9tico Madrid.<\/p>\n

‘In the 54th minute of the match, after play had been restarted correctly, an opponent player picked up the ball in their area without being penalised. Barcelona understand this decision, along with a grave lack of intervention by VAR, represents a major error. Accordingly, the club has requested an investigation be opened.’<\/p>\n

Interpretations of similar incidents have varied. In the Champions League quarter-finals in April 2024, the referee did not award Bayern Munich a penalty after Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalh\u00e3es touched the ball after an apparent restart from goalkeeper David Raya. Later that year, VAR intervened to award Club Brugge a penalty after a similar incident involving Aston Villa’s Emiliano Mart\u00ednez and Tyrone Mings. Reuters<\/p>\n

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Asked in the autumn whether he would like that to happen, Rashford replied: \u201cYeah, for sure.\u201d He talked about needing a change and seemed to have found a place in Catalonia: \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s much change in me; it\u2019s just a new environment, a new culture; I\u2019m enjoying it here,\u201d he said. His first three Champions League games brought four goals and two assists, the promise of more. Making his move permanent appeared to be a no brainer; on some levels, it still does. He has five goals and four assists in 10 Champions League games, and is on double figures for both across all competitions, the first player to cross that threshold in Spain this season.<\/p>\n

His had been the perfect loan signing. Barcelona could not have asked for more. And yet, there is an \u2018and yet\u2019, absurd though that can seem. And yet, does being a back-up satisfy? And yet, Barcelona could ask for more. There has been a strange sense that if statistics have been incontestable; that if he has pace, directness and delivery few others do, his contribution can be contested; that his decisive moments are also sometimes isolated ones.<\/p>\n

Flick decided Rashford has one role, on the left. When he was moved inside on Wednesday night, it was to a centre-forward position he has occupied six times in 41 games, and he has played on the right twice. Even with Ferran Torres and Lewandowski struggling badly for form, Flick has appeared reluctant to make him a striker: Dani Olmo started Part I of the Atl\u00e9tico-Barca trilogy at false 9. Rashford\u2019s opportunities had been relatively few lately: eight, zero, 62, 17 and zero minutes played in the five league games before last weekend. Then he started and scored.<\/p>\n

But it is not just the goals, not just the numbers. The demands of this team are particular too and there was something in the response from Flick before Wednesday\u2019s game: \u201cWe know Marcus is fantastic with the ball but defending is also part of the game. He is doing well and adapting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcus Rashford has reached double figures for goals and assists at Barcelona this season. Photograph: Jon Super\/AP<\/p>\n

If Rashford is not Su\u00e1rez, he is also not Raphinha, the man he must replace. The man who has 19 goals and eight assists this year and racked 34 goals and 26 assists last year, Simeone\u2019s choice as Ballon d\u2019Or winner, and the man whose intensity is contagious, leading the pressure that makes Flick\u2019s system function. It is not really Rashford\u2019s fault, but the man he replaces is the one Barcelona most miss, and that tends to put the emphasis on the things he is not, as much as the things he is. \u201cHe\u2019s not exactly a ferret when it comes to pressing,\u201d Santi Gim\u00e9nez said in AS.<\/p>\n

Injury to Raphinha during the last international break was met as a disaster, although it was also projected as an opportunity for Rashford: a chance to play, to prove a point and clarify a future that remains undecided, despite the simplicity of securing it. And that fact alone is eloquent.<\/p>\n

Barcelona are happy with him and would like him to continue. There is an appreciation for what he has done and the qualities he has, a warmth too, but while \u20ac30m is not much from a Premier League point of view it is prohibitive to them. Especially as the reluctance to regard him as a striker means that they must spend to sign there, eating into a limited budget. United consider that fee, agreed last summer, as non-negotiable; Barcelona would like to negotiate. The \u201cof course\u201d from the autumn has given way to conversations in the spring, decisions to be made, from both sides.<\/p>\n

These were the games that could define everything, not only for the team but for him. A moment to take responsibility. At the Camp Nou on Wednesday, the biggest match of Rashford\u2019s first season in Barcelona, he did, tearing into Atl\u00e9tico, imposing himself the way his manager wanted. Relentless, he did everything but score. \u201cOn another night those go in,\u201d he said; next Tuesday they will have to, back at the Metropolitano, where on the night that Rashford helped to take Barcelona towards the title, Simeone told Flick they would meet again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the end of Barcelona\u2019s 2-1 win at Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Saturday night, as the players stood celebrating…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[403,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-574605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}