Marcus Rashford expressed his satisfaction with scoring in Barcelona’s victory over Real Madrid, which helped the team secure the La Liga title. He described it as “the perfect way to end” his time at the club. The forward is currently on loan in Spain from Manchester United, having moved there during the summer after falling out of favor with former manager Ruben Amorim.
With ex-teammate Michael Carrick now in charge at Old Trafford and set to be appointed permanently after securing Champions League qualification, Rashford has not committed to his future.
“This is the perfect way I want it to end. I’m very happy, I just want to enjoy today. I live in the moment. At the end of the season we will see,” he told ESPN.
“I came here to win and we do this so I’m very happy. It’s an incredible feeling. Over the season we deserved it, we were the best team. We had some bad moments but we always come back and fight to improve.”
Rashford scored a brilliant early free-kick in the 2-0 victory, with Ferran Torres adding the second goal after 18 minutes. Jude Bellingham put the ball in the net for Real Madrid in the second half, but it was ruled out for offside. The visitors were second best throughout the night. Barca could have had more goals, but Thibaut Courtois made fine saves to deny Rashford and Torres.
The win lifted Barcelona 14 points clear at the top of the table with just three games remaining, and they could yet finish the season with 100 points. Third-placed Villarreal were held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca after Ayoze Perez’s penalty was canceled out by Vedat Muriki’s strike in first-half added time.
Athletic Bilbao’s European hopes were dealt a blow after they lost at home to Umar Sadiq’s solitary goal for Valencia, while a goalless draw for bottom side Real Oviedo at home to Getafe all but confirmed their relegation.
AC Milan’s 3-2 defeat at home to Atalanta threw the race for Champions League places in Serie A wide open. Ederson, Davide Zappacosta, and Giacomo Raspadori put the visitors 3-0 in 51 minutes, and goals from Strahinja Pavlovic (88) and Christopher Nkunku’s penalty in added time came too late to rescue a point.
This allowed Roma to join fourth-placed Milan on 67 points after they scored twice in added time to keep alive their Champions League hopes as they beat Parma 3-2. On-loan Aston Villa forward Donyell Malen opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, but after the hosts took an 87th-minute lead, Devyne Rensch equalized. Then, when Sascha Britschgi was sent off for a second yellow card for conceding a penalty, Malen scored from the spot.
Cesc Fabregas’ Como secured European football for the first time in their history and are only two points behind after the 1-0 win at already-relegated Verona guaranteed them at least a place in the Conference League.
Jamie Vardy’s first goal since January boosted Cremonese’s hopes of avoiding relegation as they beat nine-man Pisa 3-0, while Fiorentina v Genoa finished goalless.
Desire Doue came off the bench to edge Paris St Germain to the verge of their 12th Ligue 1 title in 14 seasons with the only goal against Brest. PSG are six points clear of Lens with two matches remaining, but with a goal difference 15 superior to their second-placed rivals, they are all but mathematically champions.
Lille moved into third with a 1-0 win at Monaco after Lyon lost 2-1 at Toulouse, while Rennes – 2-1 winners over Paris FC – and Marseille – who beat Le Havre 1-0 – kept themselves in the running for European football.
In the Bundesliga, Heidenheim gave themselves a chance of avoiding automatic relegation with a 3-1 win over Koln to survive until the final day.
