Marcus Rashford has made a bright start to life at Barcelona, with coach Hansi Flick heaping praise on him after he scored twice in Tuesday’s 6-1 win over Olympiakos.
According to manager Hansi Flick, Marcus Rashford will continue to go from strength to strength and become an even more important player for Barcelona.
Rashford has scored five goals and provided five assists in 12 appearances for Barça, scoring twice in a 6-1 win over 10-man Olympiakos on Tuesday night. He scored twice at his near post, hitting goalkeeper Konstantinos Tsolakis with the wrong foot to ensure his new club three points in the Champions League.
Flick, on loan from Manchester United, played as center forward in the absence of injured Robert Lewandowski, leaving Ferran Torres on the bench. Rashford has fulfilled his role, scoring or assisting in eight of Barça’s last nine games.
Although he is on loan until the end of the season, he makes no secret of his joy at being in Catalonia and his desire to stay for the long term. Barca have the option of making his move permanent for around 30 million euros (£26 million), and Flick’s post-match comments hinted they might do so.
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“For me, Rashford performed very well and is an important player for the team. I thought he had a penalty, but he won it and scored two goals,” Flick said. “He’s very fast and his combinations are very good. He’ll become even more important as he gains confidence.”
Rashford has often played on the left wing in recent years, but on Tuesday night he played in a central role, with Lamine Yamal on the right, Fermin Lopez in the number 10 position and youngster Doro Fernandes on the left wing. Yamal converted Rashford’s penalty and Lopez completed his hat-trick.
“Rashford played well today,” Flick added. “It wasn’t easy for him to play the No. 9 role. I think in the first minutes of the game we struggled to press, but at the end the chances he had and the penalties he won…
“The important thing is that he scored. He gave 100 percent what I asked of him.”
Rashford clearly felt the same way, posting a snap from the match on Instagram with the caption: “Great night at home. What a team!! Visca Barça.”
Barcelona are in second place in La Liga, two points behind rivals Real Madrid, while they are ninth in the early Champions League standings with two wins and one loss. They face Real in El Clasico at the Bernabéu on Sunday in an important test of form.
Asked about the previous performance against Real, Flick said: “That’s in the past. We’re in a different situation now, but I’m optimistic. I think we can win in Madrid. We have a great team, we’ll have more than one player back and we have time to rest and prepare for the game.”
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