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“Everything that Robert won at Bayern Munich, all the goals he scored, it was all with the aim of getting to where he is now: playing for Barcelona.”
Robert Lewandowski has had a career full of goals, but two summers ago he accomplished what is fair to describe as his ultimate ambition. The above quote comes from a source very close to the 35-year-old striker – who, like everyone quoted in this article, preferred to speak anonymously to protect relationships.
Signing for Barça was a long-term goal of Lewandowski. But since joining in July 2022 for €45 million (£38.5m; $48.7m at current rates), things haven’t gone as well as he might have hoped. This season has not been the best for him, and there has been uncertainty over his position at the club – even if the Champions League round-of-16 first leg at Napoli comes this week as he begins to show better form in front of goal. Is done.
Lewandowski was the star of the show in Barcelona’s La Liga win at Celta Vigo on Saturday, scoring two goals including a 97th-minute winner from the penalty spot, and now has four goals from Barca’s last three matches.
However, this recent momentum appears to be a rare bright spot when looking back at what has been an extremely disappointing campaign for Barcelona so far. Lewandowski is not the only player to underperform, but his status as a key signing opens him up to additional scrutiny, and wider concerns over his suitability have been growing for some time.
Lewandowski’s arrival at Barça was to signal the real starting point of a new project under Xavi. One of Europe’s most prolific goalscorers was supposed to serve as a role model for the new generation and help the club forget Lionel Messi’s painful departure.
Now, that ‘project’ has essentially already closed, and Xavi will have to step down at the end of the season. And Lewandowski looks set for a tense transfer window in the summer, with some at the club already vowing to demand a sale – unless he can prove the doubters wrong.
“Many people believe that Barcelona needs a franchise player. A well-known person who sells shirts represents the team’s public image and becomes a reason to attract fans to the stadium. Deep down, this was the reason behind the signing of Lewandowski in 2022.
This is how a senior club source described the gamble Barcelona took by signing Lewandowski from Bayern two summers ago. Last summer, club legend Messi was seen in tears, while other key figures such as Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba appeared to be reaching the final stages of their careers in Catalonia. It was decided that the Camp Nou needed a new statue, and president Joan Laporta looked to Lewandowski.
The deal to bring him could not completely escape criticism at the time. In the summer of 2021, Barcelona decided not to extend Messi’s contract, with the terms already agreed, in order to help solve the club’s financial problems. A year later, they spent €45 million on 33-year-old Lewandowski and signed a three-year deal with the option of a fourth. He will turn 36 this August.
Had Messi’s deal been completed, the Argentine would have earned €20 million in the first year of his new contract, before seeing a significant increase in his wages. Lewandowski’s annual salary, averaged over four years, has reportedly been set at €26m.
But Lewandowski prevailed. In 2022–23, he scored 33 goals and provided eight assists in all competitions. He was La Liga’s top scorer with 23 as Barça won their first league title in four years. Despite suffering yet another failure in the Champions League (they were eliminated in the group stage), Barça fans had some reason to hope that they were witnessing the start of something big.
Nevertheless, you may also see that there are early signs of problems increasing to the same level where they are now.
The 2022 World Cup was clearly the turning point in Lewandowski’s first season. Before its start, he had scored 13 goals in the first 15 La Liga matches of the season, as well as netting five Champions League goals.
After coming back from a disappointing performance with Poland (they scored two goals and were eliminated by France in the last-16), nothing was the same. Lewandowski lost a bit of his spark, which can be normal in a season, but as it turned out, it never really came back.
Lewandowski played 19 more games in La Liga after Qatar 2022, scoring 10 goals, four of which came as the title was already secured. Tension and disappointment towards oneself also started appearing in the dressing room. But most importantly, it also became clear that the best version of Xavi’s Barcelona was not entirely compatible with his preferred playing style.
Barca’s Supercopa de Espana victory over Real Madrid in January 2023 is still the most convincing performance under Xavi’s tenure. They overcame their Clasico rivals to a 3–1 victory thanks to a tactical change: sacrificing one winger for another body in a four-strong midfield.
Xavi was convinced that despite its impact on Lewandowski, it provided a path to follow.
“I think this team needs more control and less change and that’s why we’ve changed our approach a bit,” he said on the day Barca were crowned league champions after victory over city rivals Espanyol in May last year. Was crowned.
“We felt better in control of the ball and I preferred players who did not lose possession of the ball. “That’s how I understand football, it’s about those kind of players: midfielders who are always able to keep the ball.”
Lewandowski didn’t see things so positively. In an exclusive interview with athletic During Barça’s pre-season tour last summer, he explained how he had become frustrated with the change. He knew that losing a winger meant less chances to receive the ball and crosses into the box, which are his strongest areas of his game.
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There was a situation of solution here. From the team’s tactical standpoint, they had to find a better fit for their star striker. On the player side, he needs to recapture the form he displayed in 2022.
Instead of finding a solution, the situation worsened.
Lewandowski’s four goals in three matches follows a six-match drought (DAX Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“We don’t have the quality of 2010 Barcelona, we don’t have it at all. We need to take our socks off. If we don’t run like animals we won’t be able to win the game. If we can’t be clinical, we need spirit as a team. This is Barcelona, things need to change.”
Following his side’s final league match of 2023, Xavi directed his most important words as Barça manager. They managed a narrow 3–2 win against La Liga bottom side Almeria, having been tied 1–1 at the break.
A few days later, it emerged that Lewandowski faced strong criticism from Xavi in a half-time dressing room address, criticizing the lack of intensity and aggression among his players.
By that time, sources within the coaching staff had begun to describe Lewandowski’s goalscoring effectiveness as lower than expected. They also thought he had lost some of his strength in individual duels, and were concerned by his deteriorating link-up game.
Comparing his La Liga statistics for this season and last (according to Fbref.com), Lewandowski has the same rate of balls mishandled per game (about 2.7) and aerial duels won (about 2.7) last season. 53.6 percent; 52.8 percent this season). But their passing success rate has dropped significantly.
For short-range passes, completions dropped from 83.9 percent last season to 77.7 percent this season, while medium-range passes dropped from 77.1 percent to 71.4 percent, and long-range passes dropped from 65.2 percent to 55.6 percent. Has gone. ,
His expected goals (xG) data doesn’t look too bad at this point. In 2022-23, he scored 23 goals from 24.3 xG in La Liga, while this season he is on 12 goals from 14.6 xG.
However, it is worth pointing out that, prior to his four goals in Barça’s last three league games, he was on eight goals from 12.1xG and had scored only three times in the competition since September (after missing two matches injured. with).
Lewandowski has scored 17 times and provided six assists in 33 games in all competitions so far this season. His match-winning strike against Celta on Saturday was his 50th for Barça.
And yet Xavi has left him out of the team four times this term with the team in need of goals (against Real Sociedad, Las Palmas, Real Betis and Villarreal). It’s also clear that teammates are struggling to connect with him. He averaged 34.3 touches per league game last season. His average so far in this campaign is 26.7.
Is Lewandowski solely to blame for slightly low numbers at this stage of his career? Probably not – and clearly Xavi’s regime change also had an impact.
But there have been some issues off the pitch too.
Lewandowski and Yamal, pictured in September (Pedro Salado/Quality Sports Images/Getty Images)
Lewandowski is considered to have an honest character. As soon as he believes something is wrong, he will say so. This created a tense situation for a few moments.
In February last year, dressing room sources said that after Manchester United knocked Barca out of the Europa League at Old Trafford, Lewandowski had a verbal exchange with Ansu Fati, whom he accused of being too selfish and disrespectful to his teammates. Was criticized for not keeping pace with. I had better options than shooting.
This season, against Deportivo Alavés in November, we also saw Lewandowski complain to 16-year-old Lamine Yamal when the winger decided to shoot instead of crossing.
But this friction does not highlight a fundamentally poor relationship, and no one in the dressing room has ever doubted Lewandowski’s commitment to the team. When Xavi personally told the players of his decision to quit, a day after announcing it at a post-match press conference in January, Lewandowski expressed his appreciation for the work he had done at a difficult moment for the club. of. Xavi was particularly impressed by this.
A few hours later, Lewandowski showed that he could still be counted on as one of the dressing room leaders by hosting a team dinner at his home in Castelldefels, which was attended by all the first team players. This was a team-building activity, organized with club approval to help focus on the rest of the upcoming season.
So what’s next for Lewandowski at Barcelona?
Barcelona need to sell players before thinking about reshaping their squad (and appointing a new manager) this summer, with several senior sources at the club saying they would welcome a lucrative offer for him. do.
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But, here – as with many of the others Barça would ideally like to move – the power is on the player’s side. Under contract until at least 2025, he has no desire to leave. He is also confident that he is able to overcome his recent decline in form and consistently return to his best goalscoring form.
Lewandowski has dreamed of joining Barcelona for years, and sources close to the player say they understand the atmosphere around the club can be particularly bitter when things don’t go according to plan.
In terms of his contract, he has a fully guaranteed another year before an option for a fourth which will be automatically triggered if he plays more than 55 percent of Barça’s games during 2024-25.
Nevertheless, we can expect pressure to come in the summer in the form of media reports suggesting how beneficial his departure could be to the club’s finances. Lewandowski’s camp is fully aware of what happened to Frenkie de Jong in 2022 when Barça tried to force him out in the summer.
But, for the moment, despite doubts among a coaching team that is set to depart, despite the added stress and scrutiny of his situation, Lewandowski is exactly where he wants to be. And for them and Barcelona, there should be no more serious immediate concerns than Wednesday’s trip to Naples.
(Top photo: DAX Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
