Marcus Rashford sets tongues wagging after competitive debut for Barcelona in La Liga season opener

Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford made his La Liga debut on Saturday as Barcelona kicked off their 2025/26 season with an emphatic 3-0 win over Mallorca.

Rashford joined Barcelona earlier this summer on a season-long loan deal.

Barcelona cruised past Mallorca

Rashford was named on the bench, with Hansi Flick preferring a starting attacking trio of Lamine Yamal and Raphinha on the wings and Ferran Torres leading the line.

Barca got off to a first start as Raphinha broke the deadlock just seven minutes in. Yamal delivered a fantastic cross into the box, which bounced off the ground before Raphinha nodded it home.

The visitors doubled the lead soon after, albeit in a very controversial fashion.

Mallorca defender Antonio Raillo hit the ground in pain while trying to clear a Yama slot. The referee appeared to be blowing his whistle to pause proceedings, but not before Torres fired a beautiful strike into the back of the net with his right foot.

Yamal added a third in added time to put the cherry on top of what was a dream start to the campaign for the Blaugrana.

Rashford was brought in with 22 minutes left on the clock, replacing Torres. Interestingly, Rashford mostly occupied the left side of the attack, with Raphinha playing in the number nine position.

Rashford’s performance

Rashford’s intent was clear as he pushed for a debut goal to mark a bright beginning at Barcelona, though the breakthrough never came.

However, he still showed a lot of positive signs, especially in the way he combined with his new teammates.

The United loanee touched the ball 14 times and successfully connected with 10 of the 11 passes he attempted (91% individual pass accuracy).

Two of his passes were key passes. He lost the ball three times.

(Stats obtained from Sofascore)

Rashford and Barcelona return to action in a week’s time when they take on Levante at Estadio Ciudad de Valencia.

Featured image Alex Caparros via Getty Images

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