Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford will hope to leave his mark against Newcastle United in the Champions League on Thursday, this time wearing the colours of Barcelona
Marcus Rashford looks on
Marcus Rashford is currently enjoying his loan spell with Barcelona(Image: Jose Breton/NurPhoto)
Nine months ago, Marcus Rashford was recalled to Manchester United’s squad by Ruben Amorim ahead of a clash with Newcastle.
Now, the forward is preparing to face Newcastle at St James’ Park on Thursday night with his new team, Barcelona, in their opening Champions League game of the season, showing how drastically his circumstances have changed in a short period of time.
The decision by Amorim came at a point when Rashford was being frozen out of the team after a falling-out with the Portuguese head coach.
Having been left out of the team for supposed poor displays in training, Rashford was unexpectedly named on the bench to face Eddie Howe’s side in United’s final game of 2024 - his first inclusion in five matchday squads.
Amorim made no secret of the fact the 27-year-old’s involvement was only down to the sheer number of United players out injured.
And it spoke volumes of the player’s dire situation at Old Trafford, just before his loan move to Aston Villa, that he was still not able to get any minutes, having remained on the bench.
After a brief loan spell at Villa, Rashford sealed a dream season-long loan move to Catalonia in the summer. Since then, he has tried to find his feet under Hansi Flick, surrounded by world class talent in a team with a completely new philosophy.
Manchester United's Marcus Rashford warms up behind Ruben Amorim
Marcus Rashford was an unused sub when Manchester United faced Newcastle at home last season
And having notched his first assist in the 6-0 win over Valencia last weekend, the England international will be buzzing to return to England to face Newcastle in very different circumstances.
He will be hoping to show his new manager and team-mates exactly what he can do in what is expected to be a typically raucous atmosphere in the north east.
Howe’s side, who gave a good account of themselves two seasons ago in the competition, face a huge task against last year’s Champions League semi-finalists. The Spanish champions are unbeaten to start the season, winning three of their four matches in La Liga.
Interestingly, the fixture will be the fifth time the Magpies have met the Blaugrana in the competition. They last faced each other at St James’ Park in the 2002/03 season, when Barcelona won the group stage clash 2-0 with goals from Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta.
Shola Ameobi got on the scoresheet as the Magpies lost 3-1 at the Camp Nou in the fixture earlier that season. However, Newcastle did win their first ever Champions League meeting with Barcelona 3-2 at home in the 1997/98 season against the likes of Luis Figo and Rivaldo, before suffering a 1-0 loss away in Catalonia.
Flick’s men will follow Thursday’s group phase opener by taking on PSG, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, Chelsea, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Praha and Copenhagen. Newcastle, meanwhile, play Union SG, Benfica, Athletic Club, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen, PSV Eindhoven and PSG next.