Marcus Rashford made a big impact for Barcelona despite starting on the bench again as Hansi Flick weighs up the loan star's future
Marcus Rashford reminded Hansi Flick of his quality after being left on the Barcelona bench for the second consecutive match. After netting as a substitute in Sunday's 2-1 La Liga loss at Real Sociedad, the Manchester United loanee was once again omitted from the starting line-up for Barcelona's vital Champions League fixture away to Slavia Prague.
Raphinha was preferred ahead of him on the left flank but delivered a patchy display. Determined to make his mark, Rashford quickly influenced proceedings after coming on for Roony Bardghji in the 61st minute, delivering a cross from the left that Robert Lewandowski converted for Barca's decisive fourth goal in their 4-2 victory.
It was the Polish striker's first Champions League goal of the campaign at the right end, extending his scoring run in the competition to 15 successive seasons. He had earlier put through his own net to level the score at 2-2 just before the interval.
Crucially, the result left Barcelona in ninth place ahead of next week's final round of group fixtures, when they welcome Copenhagen. Victory could be sufficient to secure their passage to the last 16, avoiding the play-off round for sides finishing ninth to 24th.
Remarkably, they are among eight teams level on 13 points, which includes Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester City. Rashford will be hoping his contribution has earned him a place in Flick's starting line-up for both the Copenhagen encounter and, beforehand, Sunday's home meeting with Oviedo.
He caught the eye of Spanish media with his appearance in Prague. Football Espana awarded him 6.5/10 and noted: "Fantastic assist for Lewandowski's goal."
The same publication was less impressed with Raphinha, stating: "Another that was not at his best. Started on the left, before being switched to the right in the second half, but he was poor in both positions."
Following Ruben Amorim's sacking, speculation has emerged that Rashford could resurrect his United career under the next permanent manager. However, converting his Barcelona loan into a permanent transfer remains the more probable scenario, with Flick yet to decide on the England international's future in Catalonia.
Speaking at the weekend, the German head coach said: "Deco [Barca's sporting director] and I always speak about our team and what we can do.
"Marcus's performances have been really good until now, but we have to manage it. It's Deco's job and the club's job to work on next season, so we have to wait.
"We still have plenty more time. There are many months, many days, many weeks ahead of us, and that's how it is."