One Barcelona player thrived despite Flick’s team’s less than desirable display against Elche | OneFootball

Elche arrived at Montjuic last weekend to face FC Barcelona. Their manager, Eder Sarabia, came with the desire to beat the Catalan club at their own game, playing an attacking brand of football while keeping possession.

Barcelona might have won 3-1 on the night, but Elche did something most teams cannot manage against the Catalan club. The newly-promoted side finished with 51% possession, forcing Flick’s team into a more vertical style.

This was evident in Barcelona’s goals. Both Lamine’s and Ferran’s strikes came from turnovers, and only Rashford’s was a properly constructed move. This is a less-than-desirable style of play for the team.

However, according to SPORT, one Barcelona star who thrived in this chaos was Marcus Rashford. Time and again, the team looked to hit over-the-top long balls for the Englishman to run onto, a style that has long suited him.

Rashford was the attacking player who came into contact with the ball most often in the game (47), six more than Lamine Yamal, despite playing 15 fewer minutes than the Barcelona No. 10. The Englishman looked dangerous every time he linked play.

Although this end-to-end, vertical style is not what fans expect from Barcelona, Flick’s team showed they could adapt to what the opposition throws at them, and in such scenarios, they have a player in Rashford who can explode and win a game on his own.

Rashford’s start to his Barcelona career has been very promising. Let’s hope he can continue his goalscoring form against Club Brugge in the Champions League midweek.