Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-0 as Marcus Rashford made his La Liga debut for the club, but manager Hansi Flick was far from happy afterwards.
It looked like an ideal start to the league campaign for the champions as Raphinha, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal scored the goals away from home.
However, Flick was not impressed as he felt his team lacked effort and energy after the home team had two players sent off.
Mallorca were seriously up against it when they had Manu Morlanes sent off on 33 minutes and then Vedat Muriqi was shown red just six minutes later.
The score was 2-0 at the time and Flick felt his team just coasted to victory from there rather than pushing on for more goals.
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‘I didn’t like the match,’ Flick said in a scathing review of his team’s performance. ‘These are three important points, but after going 2-0 up, and with the two red cards, I think my team played at 50 per cent.
‘That can’t happen. I need to talk to the players about this. You can’t play at 50 per cent against nine players, that’s not what I expect. This is not acceptable.’
Rashford was given a first run out in the Spanish top flight as he replaced Torres on 69 minutes.
Flick had some sympathy for the England international coming on to face a team in a low block and with his teammates lacking the intensity required.
‘Rashford didn’t have the chance to play more freely because Mallorca was crowded at the back,’ he said.
‘Also the team played with less intensity, and I wasn’t happy about that.’
Rashford reacted to his first La Liga appearance on Instagram, writing: ‘Best way to start 💪🏾 Vamos equipo.’
It had been something of an uncertain time for the on-loan Manchester United forward as on Friday he had still not been registered to play in La Liga ahead of Barcelona’s opener the following day.
Speaking ahead of the league campaign, Flick said: ‘For me, the situation, you can imagine I’m not happy about that. But I know the situation and I believe in the club.
‘We will focus on what we can change and what is in our hands. The other things, I believe in the club.’
The registration was clearly made in time, just before the clash with Mallorca and Rashford will be hoping it is the first of many appearances for his new club.
The next two La Liga games are away from home as well, at Levante and Rayo Vallecano, so Rashford could make his home debut on September 14 against Valencia.
Barca are hoping to move back into the Camp Nou by this point, but may well still be playing at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys as renovations continue.