Marcus Rashford announced his arrival in Barcelona colours on the European stage with a brilliant brace, guiding the Catalan giants to a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United in their UEFA Champions League opener at St James’ Park. The win extends Barça’s strong record against English opposition, with 13 victories from their last 17 UCL encounters (W13, D2, L2).
Just as Hansi Flick predicted in the match pre-game press conference, a raucous home crowd inspired Newcastle to a strong start, with Anthony Gordon and Harvey Barnes both wasting golden chances inside the opening 20 minutes. Joan García was called into action to deny Barnes, while Barcelona struggled to cope with the hosts’ physical intensity. Pedri gradually grew into the game, though, as Barça began to settle before the break.
In the game’s preview, Softfootball predicted a very tight encounter, and gave Barcelona a 1-3 victory. The Catalans controlled the game gracefully, and there was not much panic as Pedri and Frankie De Jong controlled proceedings, with Fermin Lopez also putting in a shift in Midfield.
The second half delivered fireworks. In the 58th minute, Rashford comfortably nodded in from a Jules Koundé’s cross with a powerful header, stunning the home fans. Just nine minutes later, he produced a moment of magic unleashing a thunderous long-range strike that clipped the underside of the crossbar before nestling into the net. The goal, already labelled a “Goal of the Season contender,” doubled Barça’s advantage and left goalkeeper Nick Pope with no chance.
Newcastle pushed late on, with Bruno Guimarães testing García before substitute Jacob Murphy set up Anthony Gordon for a 90th-minute consolation. The Magpies rallied, but Barcelona held firm to seal three valuable points.
After receiving his man of the match award for his performance, Rashford addressed Barcelona fans in a video uploaded via the club’s official X account. The striker spoke of his excitement at scoring his first goal for the club and expressed his desire to score more in the future. They also uploaded another video of the forward posing with his man-of-the-match award.
Watch the video below:
After the match, manager Hansi Flick hailed Rashford’s impact, describing his second strike as “very good” and praising the forward’s confidence. For Newcastle, it was another harsh lesson at Europe’s top level, leaving them with just one win from five matches across all competitions this season.
