Rasford shines with two goals, Barcelona triumphs in St. James Park versus Newcastle

Marcus Rasford was the star of the match as Barcelona began its adventure at UEFA Champions League (UCL) with a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United. With this result, the Catalans recorded 13th victories in the last 17 confrontations with English teams in this competition

A black and white sea hosted the teams in St. James Park, and local fans created an electrifying atmosphere supporting Newcastle in the first few minutes.

Anyway, Eddie Howe's team failed to take advantage of the early cases. Anthony Gordon couldn't connect to Anthony Elanga's beautiful escort, while Harvey Barnes survived the playoff flag two minutes later. Rasford, on the other hand, tried to threaten the gate with some progress in the area, but his attempt was not converted into a goal.

The first was marked by Barcelona's many possessions, but the Catalan team faced a very physical game on Newcastle's side. A beautiful counterattack and cross by Elanga only required Barnes to mark the first priority, but goalkeeper García was in place to deviate.

Pear's influence began to feel in midfield, and just before the 30th minute, Joel's intervention toward the midfielder cost him the first yellow card. As Newcastle's intensity began to fade towards the break of the first part, visitors sought to take the initiative, but Raffinha's free kick was out of the way, illustrating the Catalan's offensive difficulties.

At the beginning of the second half, an early angle created trouble for Barcelona while locals threatened again, while Fabian Schär faced a powerful blow from Rasford to the other side. About the 60th minute, Rasford's headshot after a crossing of Jules Coundé ended at the far corner of the gate, marking his first goal for Blaugran and giving Barcelona the deserved advantage.

This was the first goal at the Newcastle Gate and promoted four replacements by Eddie Howe, including the entry of young assailant Nick Woltade.

In just the minute of 69th, a wonderful individual action by Rasford hit the top corner of the gate, leaving goalkeeper Nick Pope stunned and silenced local fans. With this goal, the player loaned by Manchester United reached the 10th goal at 12 points against Newcastle, including 6 goals in 7 matches in St. James Park.

Newcastle asked for inspiration in the second half, and Bruno Guimares approached a case in the minute of 7350, but García was back in place to deviate. In the 90th minute, Anthony Gordon scored a late goal after a cross-step of Jacob Murphy, raising hope for a final turn. However, Barcelona held the lead and left Newcastle with only one victory in the last five matches in all competitions this season.

This triumph confirms Barcelona's strength against the English teams and stresses the importance of Marcus Rasford as a key player in the Catalan project this season.