Although numerous media claimed him to be “finished” in the last few weeks because of a series of matches during which he couldn’t find the back of the net, Robert Lewandowski just set the record straight. Last Sunday, the Pole scored a brace during FC Barcelona’s comfortable win against Espanyol (2-4), which mathematically ensured the title for the Catalans.
A massive first season in Spain
Robert Lewandowski’s arrival in Barcelona was one of the big stories of last summer’s transfer window. Expectations were high for the man who finished seven times best scorer in the Bundesliga. The least that can be said is that the expectations were met with concrete results. While there are still four league games to be played this season, “RL9” has got 21 goals and 6 assists. It’s worth noting that none of the 21 goals has been a penalty.
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The Pole leads the ranking of Spain’s best scorers ahead of the French Karim Benzema (17) and is thus likely to finish the season with the prestigious Pichichi. This would mean a record sixth consecutive league best-scorer trophy!
Lewandowski’s statistics are truly impressive. Since 2009, he has won 12 championship titles (including 9 in a row since 2015) and has scored at least 20 league goals in 11 seasons. Overall, he has scored 31 goals in this successful first season with the Blaugranas so far.
How far can he go?
In August, Robert Lewandowski will turn 35, which means the peak of his career is already far behind him. Nonetheless, “Lewy” continues to perform at a remarkably high level. The Varsovian goal machine is about to reach several symbolic thresholds that will strengthen his impact on the history of football even more.
Let’s start with his overall number of goals. As of mid-May, 2023, Lewandowski is three goals away from becoming the 11th player in the history of the game to score 600 times in official matches. Among active players, only the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo (835) and Lionel Messi have done so (805).
When it comes to national team goals, “Lewy” is only two goals away from reaching the mark of 80 with Poland. He could do so on 20 June while the White and Reds will be playing Moldova. If he stays fit in the upcoming two years or so, the mark of 90 international goals seems also realistic to reach by his standards.
When it comes to the Champions League, the Pole (91) is neck and neck with Karim Benzema (90) to become the competition’s third all-time top scorer, again behind Ronaldo (140) and Messi (129). Chances are high that “RL9” won’t be contented until he has reached the magic 100 goals mark in this competition.
Besides individual statistics
As mentioned above, Robert Lewandowski is slowly approaching the end of his career. He joined FC Barcelona with the ambition of winning trophies, not only on the national level. This season, the Blaugranas did not make it out of the group phase in the Champions League. There’s no doubt that for the 2023-2024 edition, the Polish superstar will be extra motivated to do better with the Catalan giant.
As for Poland’s national team, the upcoming Euro 2024 appears as the last chance for “Lewy” to shine with the white and red shirt. Last year’s decent run in the World Cup was certainly encouraging, although the way Poland made it to the final stage was not spectacular, to say the least.
One thing is sure, the Polish sniper has nothing left to prove. The fact that he still dominates one of the world’s most prestigious leagues with such ease is a delight for any football fan. As of Spring 2023, the claim that Robert Lewandowski belongs to the past certainly represents a premature statement. “Lewangoalski” is not done quite yet!
Image: Getty Images
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
