The striker came off the bench with 27 minutes left and led United to an impressive victory. Mason Greenwood opened the scoring in the 21st minute, delivering a clinical finish after being slipped through by Paul Pogba.

Leipzig, which reached the semi-finals in last season’s competition, stuck in the game well and could have drawn level when Ibrahima Konate’s header was kept out by David de Gea.

Rashford came on for Greenwood in the 63rd minute and soon set about deciding the match. The England forward raced on to a long ball from Bruno Fernandes to make it 2-0 in the 74th minute.

Rashford made it 3-0 after Fred robbed Marcel Sabitzer and Anthony Martial added the fourth from the penalty spot. The hat-trick, inside 19 minutes, was completed in stoppage time when Rashford blasted the ball home after good work from Martial. In Turin, Ousmane Dembele struck early and Lionel Messi converted a penalty as Barcelona won 2-0 against Juventus.

RESULTS (WEDNESDAY): Manchester United 5 beat RB Leipzig 0; Juventus 0 lost to Barcelona 2; Sevilla 1 beat Rennes 0; Istanbul Basaksehir 0 lost to Paris Saint Germain 2; Krasnodar 0 lost to Chelsea 4; Club Brugge 1 drew with Lazio 1; Borussia Dortmund 2 beat Zenit St Petersburg 0; Ferencvaros 2 drew with Dynamo Kiev 2.

RESULTS (TUESDAY): Lokomotiv Moscow 1 lost to Bayern Munich 2; Borussia Monchengladbach 2 drew with Real Madrid 2; Liverpool 2 beat Midtjylland 0; Atalanta 2 drew with Ajax 2; Marseille 0 lost to Manchester City 3; Atletico Madrid 3 beat RB Salzburg 2; Porto 2 beat Olympiacos 0; Shakhtar Donetsk 0 drew with Inter Milan 0.