Rashford steps up with a stunning brace to silence Newcastle's party

A little over 24 hours before kickoff, Hansi Flick spoke about how lucky he felt to have acquired Marcus Rashford on loan from Manchester United.

- Louise Taylor

Barcelona's manager was not remotely bothered that his stock had fallen so far. Rashford, he said, was a forward he had long admired and now believed he could help improve.

In the 82nd minute, Rashford walked off wreathed in smiles before being wrapped in Flick's heartfelt embrace. He had just scored two splendid goals that rendered Eddie Howe's highly effective gameplan academic and silenced St James'.

With Faustino Asprilla - the scorer of a hatrick for Newcastle as Barcelona succumbed 3-2 on Tyneside in 1997having flown in from Colombia to help cheer his old team on, it was not supposed to be like this but not even Anthony Gordon's 90th-minute consolation could upstage Rashford.

It was no night for slow coaches. Not with so many explosions of pace occurring all over the pitch and on the respective right wings in particular.

While Raphinha's rapid accelerations down that flank for Barcelona sometimes stretched England's Tino Livramento to the limit, the sprinting powers of Newcastle's Anthony Elanga often seemed utterly irresistible.