Robert Lewandowski It’s coming out. His hat trick against Alavés has propelled him up the First Division scoring table and has also allowed him to improve his scoring start to his first campaign at FC Barcelona.
Lewandowski, at 36 years old, has recovered the verve and energy that he seemed to have lost in recent months. Merit of the Polish striker, coach Hansi Flick and the notable collective performance of a very plugged-in Barça.
His scoring figures are so fabulous that they rival a certain Leo Messi, the great dominator of Spanish football in recent times.
In the last ten seasons, only one footballer has scored more goals than ‘Lewy’ in the first nine days of the national League championship: Messi. Robert Lewandowski has scored ten goals in nine games. The Argentine ’10’, at the beginning of 17-18already with Ernesto Valverde on the bench, made eleven. The difference with Lewandowski is that Leo concentrated all those goals in four games: two against Alavés, three against Espanyol, four against Eibar and another two against Las Palmas. Lewandowski has distributed his ‘pecks’ in six games: two against Valencia, one against Athletic, one against Valladolid, two against Villarreal, one against Getafe and the aforementioned three against Alavés.
Lewandowski’s records this season are superior in all aspects to those he obtained in his previous two seasons.
Another fact in which they compete: Messi sent five balls to the post in that stretch of the campaign and Lewandowski has hit four. If everyone had entered, already outstanding numbers would have been legendary.
Several players scored nine goals in those first nine days, such as Neymar in 15-16, Messi again in 19-20 y Karim Benzema in 21-22. With eight goals there are a good handful of players, such as Luis Suárez or Cristiano Ronaldo. Now Lewandowski is the only one who moves with ease in ‘Leo’s kingdom’.
Los hat-trick ‘express’
Lewandowski’s hat trick also brings the Pole to rub shoulders with some greats in the history of the Catalan club. With the Polish striker, only five players have scored three goals before half-time in an away game in the League. Before the former Bayern player, he did it Pedro Rodríguez in Getafe in 13-14 (2-5), Messi at Mestalla in 12-13 (2-3), Romario in the Calderón in the year 93 (4-3) y Hristo Stoichkov at the Athletic Bilbao stadium – in the second half he would make the fourth – in an unforgettable 0-6. In Copa del Rey, Carriage y SamitierBarça legends, also achieved this mark.
Hristo Stoichkov scored four goals against Javier Clemente’s Athletic in February 1991
MD FILE
Robert Lewandowski has already scored more times than in his debut campaign, when he scored eight goals in his first nine league games. With Bayern he had three even better starts, with 12 goals in 20-21 y 13 in the 15-16 y 19-20. Back then, the Pole ruled the Bundesliga with an iron fist. A dominance that is being transferred to Spain with the impetus of Hansi Flick, who once again has Lewandowski as his great offensive reference.
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