Barca and Bayern start season strong

Rashford comes off the bench to help Barcelona start La Liga with a win, while Bayern Munich win the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup.

Rashford Debut Drives Barca To Victory as Kane Delivers Franz Beckenbauer Supercup

Marcus Rashford made his competitive Barcelona debut as a 69th-minute substitute in a 3-0 La Liga win at Mallorca. Raphinha opened the scoring with an early header and Ferran Torres doubled the lead before halftime, giving Barca control. Mallorca were reduced to nine men after Manu Morlanes received a second yellow and Vedat Muriqi was later sent off on a VAR review. Rashford finished his cameo by helping seal the result, and Lamine Yamal added a stoppage-time third.

Across Europe, Bayern Munich beat Stuttgart 2-1 to lift the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup. Kane opened the scoring in the 18th minute, his first appearance in the competition, and Luis Diaz headed in from Serge Gnabry’s cross in the 77th minute to seal the win. Stuttgart pulled one back through Jamie Leweling in stoppage time. In Ligue 1, Monaco debuted Eric Dier with a 3-1 win over Le Havre after he joined on a free transfer. Dier headed home in the 61st minute following Gautier Lloris’s own goal for Le Havre. Nice, knocked out of the Champions League by Benfica this week, lost 1-0 at home to Toulouse in Ligue 1, while Lyon beat Lens 1-0 thanks to Georges Mikautadze’s goal.

Rashford's move to Barcelona on loan signals a shift in how big clubs mix youth and experience. Barca can absorb Premier League quality into a fluid attack, but Rashford will be tested by the pace and pressing of Spanish football. The result adds pressure on a young Barca squad to grow quickly and stay competitive.

Bayern's win underlines their appetite for immediate success and the ability to integrate new pieces like Diaz and Kane into a familiar system. Diaz's impact on the wing shows the Bundesliga openness to players who arrive mid-season and adapt fast. Across Ligue 1, Monaco's Dier debut and the early success of other signings point to a busy transfer market reshaping title races. The season will reveal how quickly new additions settle in and how much early results predict longer-term performance.

Highlights

The season will test how quickly new pieces settle in with their teams.