Furthermore, this match will be a proving ground for Barcelona's new players, such as Rashford, who arrived from Manchester United, and several others. For Hansi Flick, this victory is a must, as it sends a strong message to Madrid that they are ready to defend their La Liga title this season. The return of La Liga has made me excited again, especially when it comes to betting.
New players have to prove their ability in training sessions, then many actual matches, not only one match. Rashford has good talent but in many years so far in his career, he has never reached to his best potential. Perhaps his chance to reach to that level becomes smaller over time when he gets older and his confidence becomes less too.
Moving to Barcelona, playing for a very strong team, can help Rashford to be given good opportunities of scoring goals, making contributions, and winning titles while he has no longer carry too much expectation and pressure.
I am not sure if Barcelona will keep Rashford in their starting XI. Lewandowski will probably miss the match due to injury. Hansi Flick can use Rashford as a replacement of Lewa. But , Hansi Flick is more interested in Torres than Rashford. In Barcelona's attack , we will probably see Torres, Yamal, Raphinha and Fermin. However , I would be happy if Rashford was given a chance in the starting XI in this match. This would give Rashford a chance to adapt himself better to Barcelona's overall gameplay. Today's opponent was not very strong
Lewandowski is so old and his vulnerability to injuries, more than in the past seasons, can be explained. I believe that both Hansi Flick and Barcelona knew this trend of more sensitive with injury from Lewandowksi and they likely prepared some alternatives for this striker. That's why they got Rashford in this summer but replacing a world class striker like Lewandowski is not easy and both Rashford and Torres has a lot of thing to perform like 50% of Lewandowski.