Marcus Rashford came off the bench to set up Barcelona’s third goal as the Catalan giants maintained their unbeaten start to the La Liga season with a comfortable victory over Getafe.
The England forward set up Dani Olmo’s 62nd-minute effort after Ferran Torres scored twice before half-time.
Rashford scored twice against Newcastle in the 2-1 Champions League win at St James’ Park on Thursday, but was left on the bench by boss Hansi Flick, with Spanish media reports suggesting the reason was he arrived late to Barcelona’s morning meeting.
Rashford replaced Raphinha at the start of the second half after the former Leeds player was involved in an altercation late in the first period, having already been shown a yellow card.
“(Rotation) is normal because every three or four days we have a match, we need fresh legs on the pitch,” said Flick, when asked why Rashford did not start.
Torres almost had a dream first-half hat-trick, but hit the crossbar with a volley.
“We have a lot of matches so it’s really good to have everyone on this (level of) performance,” added Flick.
The defending Spanish champions have only dropped points in a draw with Rayo Vallecano, and they remain in second place after five games, two points behind leaders Real Madrid.
Torres put the hosts ahead in the 15th minute, latching on to a brilliant backheel by Olmo and finishing off a move started by Raphinha.
Barca added a second in the 34th minute when Raphinha picked out Torres with a ball from inside his own half, and the 25-year-old striker beat visiting goalkeeper David Soria with a low shot just inside the post.
Getafe coach Jose Bordalas was booked near the end of a feisty opening period that also saw three of his side shown yellow cards. Javi Munoz lashed a shot wide just two minutes after the restart for the visitors, but Barca weathered this spell and sealed the success with the third.
Rashford assisted a La Liga goal for the second game in a row, springing the offside trap and racing clear on the right flank before pulling the ball back for Olmo to fire home from the edge of the penalty area.
And the Manchester United loanee was close to following up his two midweek goals with a first in La Liga, but Soria pulled off a fine save to deny him in stoppage time.
Rashford has previously been punished for breaking team rules while at Manchester United – he did not feature in United’s FA Cup win over Newport two days after reportedly being spotted in nightspots in Belfast in January 2024.
He was also dropped for a win at Wolves in 2022 because he overslept and missed a team meeting.
The game was played at the 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff Stadium, where Barca’s B team usually play, because the Nou Camp is not ready yet after being redeveloped.
By BBC Sports
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