Barcelona boss makes Marcus Rashford feelings clear after slamming stars on debut

Hansi Flick believes Barcelona will "see a great Marcus Rashford this season" after the forward joined on loan from Manchester United. Rashford has been frozen out at Old Trafford by Ruben Amorim, but has been offered a lifeline by Barcelona.

He made the move to Spain on a season long loan with an option to buy and debuted off the bench as Barcelona began their La Liga campaign with a 3-0 win over Mallorca, who had two players sent off in the first-half.

However, Flick was critical of his side's performance after the game, accusing them of only playing at "50 per cent" after Mallorca went down to nine men. "I didn't like the match," he told Movistar.

"These are three important points, but after going 2-0 up, and with the two red cards, I think my team played at 50 per cent. That can't happen. I need to talk to the players about this. You can't play at 50 per cent against nine players, that's not what I expect."

Flick has been more positive ahead of Barcelona's second game of the season against Levante on Saturday, singling out Rashford in particular for praise. "He gives us more possibilities," Flick said in his pre-match press conference.

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"I know he's more comfortable playing as a winger, but with his strengths, he contributes a lot to our play. I'm confident we'll see a great Marcus Rashford this season."

And Flick believes his players have "got the message" after his public criticism, adding: "I've been a player, I know how these things happen. But what matters is that we need to improve, especially in games like that.

"We need to stick to the game plan, that's what I want them to do. That's what I told them after the Mallorca match. And they got the message."

Flick also confirmed that new signing Roony Bardghji will not be registered in time to feature against Levante. "He will not be registered for tomorrow. They train a lot, and this mentality, the attitude, he has the same as all the players, it's fantastic," he said.

"So he helps us a lot to improve the quality of the team. I can say this to Roony, but also to all of the young players who are training with the team, they are doing really good.

"But they also have to play, so I think they will play 45-60 minutes. And then tomorrow, we take one or two players with us to Levante. And hopefully next week, we will change something, and we can register every player."

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