Marcus Rashford capped his best performance in a Barcelona shirt with two goals in a Champions League win over Newcastle – but his night ended in chaos as two pitch invaders tried to join in his Man of the Match presentation.
The 27-year-old forward, on loan from Manchester United after being sidelined by Ruben Amorim, silenced his critics with a reminder of his quality.
Having arrived in Catalonia with a point to prove, Rashford produced a ruthless second-half display to fire Barcelona to a 2-1 victory on Tyneside.
Rashford opened the scoring with a bullet header – his first goal in the Champions League since October 2021 – before doubling Barca’s lead with a thunderous strike from distance that flew past Nick Pope.
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The brace earned him the UEFA Man of the Match award and saw some United fans on social media question Amorim’s decision to freeze out the England international.
Anthony Gordon’s late goal provided a nervy finish, but the LaLiga champions held firm to take all three points.
The post-match celebrations were briefly interrupted when two supporters managed to make their way onto the pitch as Rashford was preparing to collect his award.
Footage from The Sun showed one fan in a white shirt snapping a quick selfie before being ushered away by stewards.
Marcus Rashford admitted to enjoying life at Barcelona following their Champions League win over Newcastle
|PA
A second fan in a black T-shirt got much closer to Rashford and had to be physically restrained before being escorted off the pitch by security staff.
Speaking after the game, Rashford said he was delighted to be back among the goals and relishing life in Spain.
“I'm full of excitement and I'm very motivated. It's refreshing to play with these guys,” he told TNT Sports.
“It's not an easy place to come here, I've won here a few times but not always played the way we wanted to play.
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Marcus Rashford capped his best performance in a Barcelona shirt with two goals in a Champions League win over Newcastle – but his night ended in chaos as two pitch invaders tried to join in his Man of the Match presentation
|PA
“I'm learning a lot. I'm enjoying it and it's making me a better player.
“It's an amazing experience, I've always been a huge admirer of Barcelona, we just want to win as much as possible.”
Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick hailed Rashford’s impact, insisting his performance was a reflection of the quality he shows every day in training.
“We always see this from Rashford in training and we saw it today. I'm happy for him,” Flick said.
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Marcus Rashford produced his best performance for Barcelona yet in their 2-1 Champions League win over Newcastle
|PA
“In the offence we have a lot of good players and he's one.
"These two goals will help a lot to get Marcus to the next step.
"It's so important he has the confidence and feels OK. These goals are unbelievable for him for the next steps."
Rashford’s resurgence comes at a crucial moment for Barcelona as they look to progress from one of the toughest groups in the competition.
His next challenge could come this weekend in LaLiga as he seeks to build on his best night in a Barca shirt yet.
Barcelona are next in action against Getafe on Sunday (8pm).
As for Newcastle, they'll be aiming to bounce back when they do battle with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium that same day (2pm).