Barcelona reaction speaks volumes after major Rashford scare | Football | Sport

Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga, but not before being handed a scare by Marcus Rashford. Hansi Flick’s side extended their advantage at the La Liga summit to four points with a 3-0 win over RCD Mallorca on Saturday night.

Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark after a Rashford effort was blocked. Lamine Yamal then doubled his side’s lead just after the hour mark, while fellow teenager Marc Bernal completed the scoring when he scored his first senior goal seven minutes from time.

However, just before the half-time interval, out-on-loan Manchester United player Rashford handed his side a scare when he went down holding his knee. A number of Barca players, along with head coach Flick, all looked visibly concerned as the England international received medical treatment.

Rashford, though, managed to play on before he was replaced by Ferran Torres after 67 minutes. The win for Barca came at the end of a week in which Sport claimed club chiefs have reached a “unanimous” decision to sign Rashford on a permanent deal once his current loan ends this summer.

United included a €30million (£26million) buy option in the forward’s loan agreement, and now it is now being claimed that they are willing to pay that price this summer. It was also claimed in the report that to ensure the deal fits within Barcelona’s strict financial fair play and salary cap constraints, Rashford has also reportedly agreed to a significant reduction in his wages.

The forward has long made it clear that he wishes to remain at the Nou Camp. Speaking to ESPN last year, he said: “Oh yeah, for sure (I want to stay at Barcelona).

“I’m enjoying this football club and I think for anybody who loves football, Barcelona is one of the key clubs in the history of the game. For a player, it is an honour.”

Speaking after the game at the Camp Nou, Barca boss Flick said: “I’m not happy with the first half. In the first half we played too slowly and not with the right dynamism. I wasn’t happy. In the second half it was much better and in the end we have three more points, three goals for and none against. Overall it has been a positive day.

“I asked them if they were satisfied with the first part and they said no. It was a very clear answer. We showed them where they needed to improve; positioning and passing speed.

“It’s not how we want to play, but we have a lot of games and sometimes it happens. I hope that on Thursday against Atletico we will see another team from the first minute.”