Rashford breaks the Camp Nou free-kick curse as Barça's dead-ball drought ends

Barcelona finally have someone who can take a decent free-kick again, and it only took them four and a half years to sort it. Marcus Rashford’s thunderbolt against Copenhagen marks a rare bright spot in what’s been a proper nightmare for Barça from dead-ball situations.

The Messi-shaped hole

Since Leo Messi packed his bags for Paris in summer 2021, Barcelona have been absolutely pants at free-kicks. We’re talking just four direct free-kick goals in four and a half seasons - that’s proper bread and butter numbers for a club that used to have the greatest free-kick taker in history on their books.

Rashford’s strike wasn’t just any old free-kick either. It was the first time the Camp Nou faithful had seen someone score directly from a set-piece since Messi’s departure. The previous three post-Messi free-kick goals all came during Barça’s Montjuïc exile. For context, Messi’s last free-kick goal for Barcelona was back in May 2021 in a La Liga match, while his final Champions League free-kick came against Liverpool in that famous 2018-19 semi-final.

The free-kick committee

It’s not like they haven’t been trying. Every match sees a rotating cast of hopefuls step up to the mark:

• Raphinha has had numerous attempts
• Dani Olmo fancies himself from range
• Ferran Torres actually scored one (more on that later)
• Even young Lamine Yamal has had a go

But none have shown the consistency needed to make the role their own. Enter Rashford, whose Copenhagen rocket has immediately thrown him into contention as Barcelona’s potential dead-ball specialist.

The fab four (in four years!)

The post-Messi free-kick scorecard makes for pretty grim reading:

1. Ferran Torres broke the duck - a whole 866 days after Messi’s last effort. The Spaniard found the net from 23 meters against Betis in September 2023.

2. Lewandowski waited another seven months before adding the second, completing his hat-trick against Valencia in April 2024 with a free-kick in stoppage time.

3. Pablo Torre added the third against Sevilla in October 2024.

4. And now Rashford has joined the club, scoring Barça’s fourth in their Champions League group stage match against Copenhagen.

Rashford had been knocking on the door in previous attempts, but this was the first time he’d properly delivered the goods. If he can make this a regular thing, he might just solve one of Barcelona’s most persistent post-Messi problems.