Marcus Rashford has always hoped to continue playing for Barcelona after the expiration of his loan spell. At the start of this season, the team coached by Hansi Flick suffered a severe injury crisis, with many players unavailable due to injuries, leading to an acute shortage of personnel. When Rashford got the chance to start, he clearly expressed his desire to stay at Barcelona. Now, even though he mostly plays as a less important impact substitute in the team and has become more accustomed to Barcelona's style of play, he still continues to prove his value through his performances game after game.
In Rashford's first few games wearing the Barcelona jersey, his impact on the team was intuitively reflected in various statistics. In recent weeks, the English forward has shown different performances in several aspects, such as the intensity of his high pressing, which was previously questioned by the outside world, the depth of his understanding of the overall game situation, and the improvement of his decision-making ability on the field. In the match against Atlético Madrid, he quickly brought new vitality and impact to the team after coming off the bench; against Eintracht Frankfurt, his performance was full of passion and fighting spirit. When facing a team that is always tricky for opponents at home, with a group of uncivilized and disrespectful fans trying to cause chaos again at the Camp Nou, Rashford actively drove Barcelona to launch counterattacks from the start of the game.
In the process of the team's equalizing goal, Rashford provided an excellent cross to assist Jules Koundé. After coming off the bench to replace Fermín in the second half, he performed extremely actively in the first few minutes. Although his form fluctuated during the game, he once again successfully solved problems for Barcelona at critical moments of the game and Champions League matches. After Barcelona suffered setbacks in the matches against Club Brugge and Chelsea, the club urgently needed a victory to ensure that it could reach the top 8 in the "group stage" of the Champions League.
Rashford had excellent performances in the previous two winning European games, and he played again this time. In the first round against Newcastle United, the English player scored twice alone to help the team win 3-1; against Olympiacos, he scored twice again and provided an assist to help the team win 6-1. In fact, the real gap in strength between the two teams in this game was closer than the final score showed. Admittedly, his performances against Club Brugge and Chelsea were unsatisfactory, but he found his best form against Eintracht Frankfurt. Throughout the game, he completed 1 shot, had 39 touches, 2 dribbles, created 2 clear scoring chances, had a pass accuracy rate of 22/25, and won 3 duels in 45 minutes.
Although it is undeniable that since Raphinha's return to the team, Barcelona's competitive level has achieved a qualitative improvement and leap, players with distinct characteristics like Rashford are undoubtedly a valuable asset to Barcelona's squad. His shooting technique is excellent, and his ability in one-on-one duels is also very strong. However, Barcelona's current financial situation may set some obstacles to his transfer after the loan period expires. The sports management department led by Deco is unwilling to make hasty transfer decisions, but the player on loan from Manchester United continues to add strong weight to his dream of extending his stay at the Camp Nou through his excellent performances.
