Marcus Rashford came off the substitute bench on Tuesday night to give Barcelona a boost as they secured an important Champions League win against Eintracht Frankfurt. The visitors surprised the Camp Nou faithful when Ansger Knauf took an early advantage against Hansi Flick’s side. However, the Manchester United loanee quickly distinguished himself after coming on at half-time, firing in a pinpoint shot that Jules Kounde converted to turn the game on its head.
Just three minutes later, Kounde doubled his tally and the Catalans secured all three points. The win takes the five-time European champions to 10 points and they are firmly aiming for a top-eight finish, which would guarantee them an automatic place in the knockout stages. Spanish media were quick to praise Rashford’s influence on the game, with Marca awarding him two out of three stars.
Evaluating his performance, they said: “Raphinha received a pass from Rashford and sent his shot over the bar. The second half couldn’t have started more excitingly, but things got even more intense when Kounde headed home Rashford’s great cross to equalize.”
“This goal completely changed the game. While the crowd encouraged the team, Eintracht started to feel vulnerable.”
Mundo Deportivo praised Rashford’s play as “influential”, adding: “He instantly changed the way Barca attacked and proved his flick was correct by creating two scoring opportunities, one of which failed to score and the other of which was aimed at an outstanding cross for 1-1.”
“A Barcelona team that had plenty of possession but lacked ideas needed another turnaround. Raphinha, who had moved at times in the first half to the right, swapping places with Lamine Yamal or passing through the middle, was now fully settled inside, and the introduction of Rashford provided the spark to shake things up.”
“If Flick was looking to Rashford for a solution, he wasn’t wrong. He first ran down the wing and cut back to Raphinha, and then, just as he could have finished himself, a beautiful, precise cross into the box that Kounde headed in perfectly.”
Meanwhile, SPORT were harshly critical of Barcelona’s overall performance, but praised Rashford by name, saying: “Marcus Rashford deserves a special mention.
“He was signed for this purpose, to shake up a game that was stuck in a rut, to offer something different. Flick was the perfect response to the idea that the team needed a different kind of attacking player to create danger.”
After the match, Rashford expressed his satisfaction at playing in his first Champions League match at Camp Nou.
He said: “I’m having a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to playing as much as I can. Today is a good day because we’re in a position where it’s important to get points. Now we’re going to rest and try to improve.”
“The most important thing is to win and I’m very happy that we achieved that. I think we played very well and controlled the game. They scored at an unexpected time, but we reacted well and were able to score without changing too much.”
