Rashford’s Impressive Start with Barcelona

Marcus Rashford is set to return to the Barcelona squad for their crucial Champions League clash against Chelsea on Tuesday, after missing their previous game due to illness. The England international has made an impressive start to his Barcelona career, having been directly involved in five goals in just four Champions League games this season (four goals, one assist).

His performance has been so exceptional that it puts him on par with the legendary Hristo Stoichkov, who had eight goal involvements (five goals, three assists) in his first five appearances for the club in the competition back in 1994.

Hansi Flick’s Praise for Rashford

I’m really very happy [about Rashford’s return]. Hansi Flick, Barcelona coach

Barça coach Hansi Flick has been impressed with Rashford’s impact since his move to the club. “I have followed him [Rashford] throughout his career. I was impressed about his quality, what he is doing in the box, what he is doing in front of goal,” Flick said. “He has also showed it in Barcelona, which is really good.”

Flick also believes the change in culture and environment has benefitted the forward. “For him, this change to live in another culture. The people in Barcelona are fantastic, we have nice weather. It’s good for him [to enjoy the atmosphere we have],” Flick added.

Barcelona’s Form and Flick’s Unblemished Record

Barcelona, unbeaten in their last 24 Champions League games, will be looking to maintain their impressive run against Chelsea. The Catalans have scored in each of these games, netting 67 goals in total during this streak.

Flick, meanwhile, has an unblemished record in the Champions League as a coach, with his teams having never kept a clean sheet against one of his teams in the competition (36/36 – 18 with Barcelona and Bayern Munich).

Barcelona’s History Against English Teams

Since the 2013-14 season, Barcelona have only lost two of their nine away games against English sides in the Champions League. Those defeats came against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in November 2016 (1-3) and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool in May 2019 (0-4).

Did you know? Barcelona has a winning record against English teams away from home in the Champions League, with six wins and one draw from their nine encounters.