2024-01-25 19:24:00
Robert Lewandowski experienced the stormy end of the Copa del Rey encounter between Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona on the substitutes’ bench. Barça were dramatically eliminated in the quarter-finals after a “crazy exchange” in extra time, as the newspaper “Sport” judged.
From the Catalans’ point of view it was 2:4, they had nothing to counter the goals conceded by Iñaki Williams (105.+2), who had only returned from the Africa Cup of Nations on the morning of the game, and Nico Williams (120.+1).
This means that coach The Champions League still remains, but as we all know, the grapes are particularly high there, especially for a team that has rather regressed in the second year under Xavi.
Criticism of the coach in Barcelona, which has been spoiled by sporting success, is constantly increasing; in the newspaper “El Mundo Deportivo” there was even speculation about the club idol’s resignation after the 4-1 defeat in the Supercopa final against Real Madrid.
Lewandowski “slow as a freight train”
The media is also focusing on one player in particular: Robert Lewandowski. According to “Marca”, the Pole is “a shadow of himself” this season, compared to his first, when the 35-year-old became top scorer in Spain with 23 goals. Lewandowski increasingly appears “like a foreign body or sluggish like a freight train” who moves poorly, plays erratic passes and carelessly misses the best chances to score.
An example of the latter is a scene from the league game against Girona (2:4), when Lewandowski attempted a header in stoppage time when the score was 2:3, but then shouldered the ball towards the corner flag from six meters away from the goal.
Graham Hunter, ESPN’s LaLiga reporter, delivered a scathing verdict: “If you saw Lewandowski for the first time, you would wonder how someone so clumsy, slow and clumsy could play for the Spanish champions. “
Robert Lewandowski (FC Barcelona)
Fotocredit: Getty Images
Xavi tackles Lewandowski
Last season Lewandowski scored on average every 120 minutes, in 2023/24 it will be every 171 minutes. The playing time also gradually decreases – from 82 to 75 percent. Recently, FC Bayern’s long-time goalscorer has been substituted more and more often, even in close games. The score against Betis was 2-2 after 62 minutes.
As the Catalan online newspaper “El Nacional” reports in very drastic terms, the Barça bosses are said to have registered a “physical deterioration” in Lewandowski, as a result of which Xavi was forced to give the veteran more breaks than before. Robert Lewandowski, who earned a reputation as a hard-working model athlete during his time in Munich.
During half-time in the league game against Almeria (3-2), Xavi is said to have humiliated Lewandowski in a fit of rage in front of the assembled team with the words: “Let’s see if you start fucking running.”
New competition for Lewandowski from Brazil
After eight very successful years in Munich, Lewandowski was keen to take one last big career step in 2022, at a club that, in his opinion, is a step above FC Bayern. In his first year, however, he had to experience that Barça only played second fiddle in Europe.
In the second year, the personal balance is not in line with expectations. And since the beginning of the month, Lewandowski has grown in competition. The Brazilian Vitor Roque was brought in from Athletico Paranaense for 40 million euros and was given a contract until 2031. At 18, Roque was already playing for the Brazilian national team.
Roque should first learn from the established attackers in Barcelona, including Lewandowski. But the Pole currently has other worries. He has to get back on track himself first.
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