Marcus Rashford shows what he can do! Loanee's goal helps Barcelona to thumping victory over Daegu but Gavi steals the show in pre-season friendly

After a somewhat slow start by Barcelona's standards, Hansi Flick's men showed exactly why they were the best offensive team in the world last season as Raphinha and Lamine Yamal ran the show with their glitzy play before Gavi scored the opener for the Catalan side in the 21st minute. Yamal ran past two players before finding the midfielder open just outside the box, who found the net with a long-range shot.

The second goal of the clash did not take too long after Gerard Martin, who played at centre-back, switched roles with left-back Alejandro Balde and found Robert Lewandowski with a pinpoint cross that the Polish veteran simply had to slot past Daegu's stranded goalkeeper to double Barcelona's lead.

The Blaugrana found the third in injury time of the first half when Jules Kounde found Gavi with a delightful through ball in behind the Korean side's defensive line. The Spaniard chipped the charging goalkeeper from a tight angle for a fine brace.

The second period saw Marcus Rashford come on for his third appearance in a Barcelona shirt among a whole load of other changes, and it didn't take Flick's charges too long to get into their stride and grab their fourth goal of the night as Dani Olmo found Toni Fernandez, with the 17-year-old coolly slotting the ball inside the near post.

It was then Rashford's time to shine as the Manchester United loanee grabbed his first goal for the Blaugrana after Eric Garcia picked him out inside the box and he swept home an accurate finish. The game ended 5-0 thanks to Daegu goalkeeper Han Tae-hee, who saved eight shots in his 45-minute cameo in the second half.

Gavi had a very difficult 2024-25 season under Flick as he returned from a nine-month layoff due to his ACL tear. However, the Spaniard has shown that he is slowly but surely getting back into his stride, as the 20-year-old didn't just score two goals against Daegu but also dominated the midfield in the absence of Pedri and ended the game with a 95 per cent passing accuracy and a 100 per cent shot conversion rate.

Rashford's minutes have been managed by Flick since the Englishman's move from United, as he has only made second-half appearances in Barcelona's first two pre-season friendlies. The same was the case tonight, however, this time the 27-year-old bagged his first goal in Blaugrana and also showed a lot of sharpness off the left-hand side.

Roony Bardghji had a spectacular debut for Barcelona, but since then, the Swede has seemed flat, and that was the same against Daegu. The 20-year-old was somewhat overshadowed by Fernandez.

Joan Garcia did not have the best of games, but his services were barely required through the first half, and the only time he was called into action, he misjudged a cross and allowed Daegu to shoot at an open goal, which the South Korean side missed.

Dro Fernandez and Toni Fernandez, two highly-rated attacking midfielders to come out of Barcelona's La Masia academy, got a run out in the first and second half of the clash, respectively. While Dro did not have a very remarkable showing, Toni showed off exactly why he is adored by Flick, who had considered bringing him into the first team last season at the age of just 15.

Jofre Torrents is likely to be used as a backup to Balde and Martin at left-back, and he was on smoke through the second period, showing off his remarkable pace and ability on the ball as he took on a number of players on on the left-hand side.

Barcelona will now travel back to Catalonia and will face off against Cesc Fabregas' Como in the Joan Gamper Trophy before turning their focus towards the final preparations before the start of their La Liga title defence.