Marcus Rashford[1] was left out of Barcelona[2]‘s starting line-up against Getafe after arriving late to a pre-match meeting.
Rashford had starred for the Catalan giants midweek, with his stunning brace downing Newcastle in the Champions League[3].
The expectation was that Rashford would keep his place in the side amid the continued absence of Lamine Yamal[4] due to injury.
Rashford was instead named as a substitute by Hansi Flick, with Ferran Torres[5] taking his place in the starting line-up.
Daily Mail Sport understands the English forward was dropped due to arriving late for a team meeting on Sunday morning as the team gathered for a one hour pre-match activation session.
Marcus Rashford was dropped to the bench by Hansi Flick after being late to a meeting
Rashford had been expected to start following his impressive brace against Newcastle
Rashford was reportedly two minutes late to the meeting, which was said to have been caused by him still needing to electronically fill out information the club requests each day when they join up with the team.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has imposed a strict rule requiring players to present on time for meetings and training.
Under the rule, anyone who arrives late are not played, even if the manager had planned to start them.
Rashford had previously been dropped while at Manchester United by his former boss Erik ten Hag for missing a team meeting in December 2022 after oversleeping.
The forward is far from the first to fall foul of Flick’s rule at Barcelona.
Last week, Raphinha was named among the Barcelona substitutes after arriving late for an activation session.
Raphinha came off the bench in the match to score a brace in a 6-0 win over Valencia.
Rashford was brought on at half-time with Barcelona leading 2-0 against Getafe
Jules Kounde and Inaki Pena had also been left out of matches previously by Flick for similar reasons, with the former late on two occasions.
Kounde has reportedly since asked for security to provide him with more notice in order not to be late again.
Having been handed a start in place of Rashford, Torres scored twice in the first half to put Barcelona 2-0 up against Getafe.
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Rashford was ultimately introduced by Flick at half-time for Raphinha with the Brazilian having been booked in the first half.
The 27-year-old assisted Dani Olmo for his goal as Barcelona secured a 3-0 win to put them second in LaLiga standings, two points behind Real Madrid.
Daily Mail Sport revealed last week that Flick had made Rashford his personal project since arriving on loan from Man United, with the German aiming to restore him to former glory and make a permanent £26million deal.
‘When we got this chance to sign Marcus, I said, “OK, we have to do it!” I told him, “I want you in my team”,’ Flick said after Rashford’s brace against Newcastle in midweek.
‘For me, he is an outstanding player and an outstanding finisher. I am not surprised he did this.’
Rashford had hailed Flick as a ‘top man manager’ when asked about life under the Barcelona boss.
References
- ^ Marcus Rashford (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Barcelona (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Champions League (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Lamine Yamal (www.dailymail.co.uk)
- ^ Ferran Torres (www.dailymail.co.uk)