Marcus Rashford emerged from the substitutes' bench on Tuesday evening to galvanise Barcelona as they secured a crucial Champions League victory over Eintracht Frankfurt. The visitors stunned the Camp Nou faithful when Ansgar Knauff fired them into an early advantage against Hansi Flick's men. However, the Manchester United loanee wasted no time in making his mark after his half-time introduction, delivering a pinpoint delivery that Jules Kounde converted to turn the match on its head.

Kounde doubled his tally just three minutes later, with the Catalan side securing all three points. The victory propelled the five-time European champions to 10 points, keeping them firmly in the hunt for a top-eight finish that would guarantee automatic qualification to the knockout stages. Spanish media outlets were quick to applaud Rashford's influence on proceedings, with Marca awarding him two stars out of three.

Assessing his display, they noted: "Raphinha fired over the bar after a Rashford pass. The second half couldn't have started more excitingly, and things only got more intense when Kounde headed home a great Rashford cross to level the score.

"The goal completely changed the game. The crowd spurred their team on, while Eintracht began to feel vulnerable."

Mundo Deportivo hailed Rashford's display as "influential", adding: "He proved Flick right by immediately shaking up Barca's offensive method, generating two goal-scoring opportunities: one was not and the other was after an anthological cross for the 1-1.

"A Barcelona side with plenty of possession but lacking ideas needed, yet again, a comeback. Raphinha, who in the first half had occasionally moved to the right, switching positions with Lamine Yamal, or through the middle, settled permanently inside, and Rashford came on, bringing a spark to shake things up.

"If Flick was looking to Rashford for a solution, he wasn't wrong. After an initial run down the wing and a cutback to Raphinha, when he could have finished himself, a beautiful and precise cross came into the box, where Koundé headed it in perfectly."

Meanwhile, SPORT offered scathing criticism of Barcelona's overall showing but singled out Rashford for acclaim, writing: "Marcus Rashford deserves a special mention.

"He was signed for this purpose: to shake things up for games that are stuck in a rut, to offer something different. Flick saw that the team needed a different kind of attacking player to create danger and he responded perfectly."

Following the match, Rashford spoke of his satisfaction at featuring in a Champions League encounter at the Camp Nou for the first time.

He said: "I'm enjoying it very much and looking forward to playing as much as I can. We're in a position where it was important we got the points so this is a good day and now we rest and try to improve.

"The most important thing was to win and I'm very happy we managed to do that. I thought we played quite well and controlled the game. They scored at an unexpected time but we reacted well and managed to get the goals without changing too much."