Barcelona manager Hansi Flick insists Marcus Rashford has “more potential” to show the La Liga giants, challenging the Manchester United loanee to step up in the injury absence of Lamine Yamal.
Flick clashed with officials from Spain’s football authorities over Yamal, who returned from international duty with an injury which the Barcelona boss argued was a result of negligence from La Roja.
Yamal missed the recent win over Valencia and will remain sidelined for Thursday’s Champions League trip to Newcastle United, for which Rashford is expected to take his spot and attempt to build on the form which saw him bag an assist in the weekend’s 6–0 victory.
“We know Lamine is not playing tomorrow, maybe not on Sunday [against Getafe], but we have a strong team,” Flick told his prematch news conference.
“Also in this position, we have Marcus Rashford in our team and if someone from the front maybe cannot play, he can play and he showed it also on Sunday [against Valencia]. I hope he can show in England the same performance he did on Sunday.
“I have followed Marcus since he started at Manchester United. I always said the kind of player he is was really unbelievable. He has speed, but also in one vs. one situations is really fantastic. And also finishing. What I saw in the first weeks here is really good.
“He also has more potential he can show us. He wants to do this, of course. For me, it’s great to have him on my team.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe will be very familiar with Rashford from his time in the Premier League, but the Magpies boss admitted he was disappointed not to see a player of Yamal’s quality take to the pitch for Barcelona.
“For me, it’s a shame he’s not playing,” Howe told the media. “I’m disappointed that we don’t get to see him at his best playing in the game.
“But whoever they play, they’ve got real pace in wide areas, we know that. They’ve got international players that will challenge us in different ways, so I think structurally our team performance has got to be really strong, we’ve got to defend well in wide areas, so we’re looking forward to that battle.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hansi Flick Sets Marcus Rashford Challenge During Lamine Yamal Injury Absence.
