Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford chose the grandest stage in club football to highlight why Barcelona should sign him permanently this summer.
Rashford curled an inch-perfect free-kick into the top corner in the ninth minute, leaving Thibaut Courtois and the Real Madrid wall rooted to the spot. Camp Nou erupted. The title was all but won.
The strike was the first direct free-kick goal by a Barcelona player in El Clasico since Lionel Messi in October 2012. The fact will not be lost on a fanbase that reveres that particular piece of history.
Barcelona won 2-0, with Ferran Torres adding a second in the 18th minute, and the victory confirmed their 29th La Liga title with three games to spare.
Rashford, who had not been guaranteed a starting place, justified his manager’s faith. He operated with the confidence and directness that have defined the best periods of his time at Camp Nou.
The timing is significant because the obstacles to a permanent deal remain considerable.
Barcelona’s chances of retaining Rashford beyond the expiration of his loan look increasingly complicated, given the costs involved and Manchester United’s unwillingness to negotiate.
However, an impressive display in El Clasico that clinched the La Liga title is not easily dismissed.
Performances of that magnitude have a way of shifting positions – of making previously immovable financial calculations suddenly feel more negotiable.
Rashford has spent much of this season proving he belongs at the very highest level of the game.
On Sunday evening, in the most-watched fixture in world football, he proved it beyond all reasonable doubt. The ball is firmly in Barcelona’s court.
