Marcus Rashford watched from the bench as the unlikely candidate of Eric Garcia opened the scoring for Barcelona in their opening pre-season friendly against Vissel Kobe in Japan on Sunday.
Defender Garcia applied the finishing touch in a close-range scramble to put Barca ahead in sweltering conditions at the Misaki Park Stadium, where Spain sensation Lamine Yamal and Brazil livewire Raphinha were part of the reigning Spanish champions’ forward line.
Barcelona bosssed first-half possession but the J1 League leaders hit back two minutes before half-time when Japan newcomer Taisei Miyashiro struck after a mistake by 18-year-old centre-back Pau Cubarsi.
The season’s first goal is in! pic.twitter.com/jvnfoSgiHl
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 27, 2025
Barcelona team vs Vissel Kobe
Joan Garcia made his first appearance for Barca after the club triggered the goalkeeper’s £21.3 million release clause at Espanyol last month.
Lewandowski, who top-scored with 42 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions last season, joined Manchester United loanee Rashford in reserve initially.
Barcelona XI: Joan Garcia, Eric, Cubarsi, Inigo Martínez, Balde, Gavi, Pedri, Fermin, Lamine, Raphinha, Ferran
Barcelona substitutes: Araujo, Lewandowski, Pena, Rashford, Christensen, Casado, Ronny, Olmo, De Jong, Kounde, Szczensny, Jofre, Dro, A.Fernandez, Guillermo, Kochen, Fort, Martin
Vissel Kobe XI: Maekawa, Sakai, Yamakawa, Honda, Nagato, Ohgihara, Erik, Ideguchi, Miyashiro, Sasaki
Marcus Rashford: Barcelona debut
England striker Marcus Rashford reportedly accepted a 25% pay cut to join Barcelona, completing the move this week.
Barcelona have a £30.3 million buying option and will cover the England international’s wages, BBC Sport said.
The outlet added that Rashford’s reduced wages will save the 20-time Premier League winners around £14m.
Marcus Rashford contract, salary
United gave Rashford a new contract until 2028 less than two years ago, paying the club academy product £325,000 a week.
Rashford spent the second half of last season on loan at Aston Villa, who paid three-quarters of his wages, according to The Athletic.
He is one of the top earners at United alongside the likes of captain Bruno Fernandes and former Real Madrid midfielder Casemiro.
Marcus Rashford stats
The former United top scorer produced four goals and six assists in 17 appearances at Villa, having become a peripheral figure at United since Ruben Amorim’s appointment as manager in November.
Villa manager Unai Emery started Rashford in all four of their Champions League knockout stage matches in 2023/24 and saw him score twice in his final four league starts.
Rashford’s season ended with a hamstring injury that initially kept him out of Aston Villa’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Crystal Palace on April 26.
Rashford England return
New England manager Thomas Tuchel restored Rashford to the squad for the first time in almost a year when he called him up for his first matches in charge in March.
Rashford started both games, helping England beat Albania 2-0 and Latvia 3-0 at Wembley Stadium to take his total to 62 caps.
His injury is likely to have precluded Rashford from being involved in the World Cup qualifying win in Andorra and friendly defeat at home to Senegal in June.
When does Barcelona’s 2025/26 LaLiga season start?
Reigning Spanish champions Barca start their season at Mallorca, who finished 10th last season, on Saturday, August 16 at 16:30 BST.
Barca are expected to play at least their first three league games of the season away while work on their Camp Nou stadium is completed, meaning they will not play a home match until mid-September at the earliest.
The first instalment of El Classico in 2025/26 will be on Matchweek 10 in late October, when Barca travel to Real Madrid.
