Marcus Rashford has been absolutely superb for Barcelona this season, and the Manchester United forward continued his excellent vein of form in Barcelona’s 3-1 win over Elche on Sunday night
20:46, 02 Nov 2025Updated 20:58, 02 Nov 2025
Marcus Rashford has reminded Manchester United what they’re missing out on – again. The 28-year-old forward, who joined Barcelona on loan in the summer, fired the Spanish champions to a 3-1 win over Elche at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on Sunday night.
Lamine Yamal broke the deadlock inside the opening minutes, curling the ball into the top left-hand corner from close range. Ferran Torres doubled Barcelona’s lead a few moments later, latching onto a cross from Fermin Lopez.
Rafa Mir pulled one back for the visitors shortly before the break, but Rashford put the third and final nail in the Elche coffin in the second half. Rather than cutting onto his right foot, the United loanee darted towards the by-line and unleashed a ferocious strike on his left.
Rashford struck the underside of the crossbar to secure Hansi Flick’s side all three points. The England international, who has been superb for Barcelona this season, has now scored six goals and provided seven assists across all competitions.
Speaking to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo after the game, Rashford reflected on his performance. The United loanee said: “I try to give my best. I could have done better against Elche, and I promise to improve because I’m not entirely happy with my performance overall.”
Rashford added: “We work hard to win. We’re taking it one game at a time. We need to keep playing as a team. This is Barca, and the demands must always be at their highest.”
Meanwhile, Torres said: “Perhaps we haven’t been as accurate in some plays as we should have been. We’ve found the spirit and the intensity. I think we’re finding the Barca of last season, when we devoured the pitch from the start.
“We needed to recover the joy of playing,” added the former Manchester City forward. “We saw during the week that they were going to play a man-to-man game, and we prepared for that.
“We were coming off a defeat, and we needed to win here, in our stadium and in front of our fans.”
On his goal, which happened to be his 50th for the club, Torres said: “I’m very happy to have scored. I try to help the team. I didn’t know that, but I’m very happy. Many more goals will come!”
The Spain international dedicated his strike to the victims of the floods in Valencia last year. Torres said: “It’s been a difficult week, and we can’t forget the people affected in Valencia, so I wanted to send them a message of solidarity and support through this goal.”
If Barcelona do not activate the option-to-buy clause, which is said to be £28m, and Rashford returns to United, Bryan Robson believes the loanee will need to change his attitude.
Speaking to Grosvenor Casinos, the Reds legend said: “Marcus is a great talent and everything, but I do think his attitude’s got to change if he does come back to United.
“Marcus is a great talent and everything, but I do think his attitude’s got to change if he does come back to United. Barcelona is different because we always know that Barcelona and Real Madrid are going to be dominant in their league.
“So for a player like Marcus playing with the top players like Barcelona have, he will improve and he will start enjoying his football a little bit better if he were to come back to United.
“I can’t believe that people say that he’s enjoying the two clubs that he left us for and that you can’t enjoy your football at Man United. That seems crazy to me.”
2025-11-02 20:46:23
