Marcus Rashford fires Barcelona to victory in opening Champions League match | OneFootball

Newcastle United 1-2 Barcelona

Barcelona have secured victory in their opening Champions League match of the season, defeating Newcastle United at St James’ Park.

Hansi Flick brought the likes of Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong and Robert Lewandowski back into the starting line-up from the weekend victory over Valencia, but they had to be resilient early on. Newcastle came flying out of the blocks on their return to the Champions League, and they should have scored when Anthony Elanga cut the ball back to Anthony Gordon, who completely missed the ball six yards from goal.

Joan Garcia was busy in the first half, and he made a huge save to deny Harvey Barnes after more good work from Elanga. By comparison, Barcelona struggled to create any clear chances, which would have been a concern for Flick.

Image via Stu Forster/Getty Images

Rashford makes the difference with second half brace

But it mattered little in the end, as Barcelona broke the deadlock just before the hour mark. Jules Kounde’s cross landed perfectly on the head of Marcus Rashford, who found the back of the net to score his first goal of the Catalans – and on his return to England, no less.

And it would get even better for the Englishman minutes later as he scored his and Barcelona’s second of the evening, and in spectacular fashion too. He worked the ball on to his right foot 25 yards out, before firing an unstoppable effort into the top right corner of the Newcastle goal, leaving Nick Pope with no chance.

However, it would not be a straightforward end to proceedings for Flick’s side as Gordon did find the goal just before the 90th minute – but despite this, Barcelona held on to secure an important victory. It was a dogged performance from the Catalans, and it will be very pleasing for them to have picked up the three points.