As goalscorers go, Robert Lewandowski is up there as arguably the greatest of his generation.
A track record of over 600 goals for club and country proves this. And yet many believed Robert Lewandowski to be finished at the elite level last season. Barcelona might even have allowed the Polish striker to leave had they had the chance.
Rumours linked Lewandowski with a transfer to Saudi Arabia and Major League Soccer. Reports at the time claimed the centre forward had a €100m-a-year offer to make the move to the Saudi Pro League, but turned it down. In Lewandowski’s “heart and head,” he said, it made no sense to leave Barca.
It’s easy to agree with that now. Nine games into the 2024/25 LaLiga season, Lewandowski is leading the Pichichi race with 10 goals to his name. The 36-year-old also has two goals in two games in the Champions League and is spearheading a Barcelona team that has renewed energy and ambition under Hansi Flick.
Flick, of course, knew Lewandowski well having worked with the Pole at Bayern Munich. In fact, Lewandowski played the best football of his career under Flick, winning the Champions League together in the 2019/20 season. Lewandowski almost certainly would have won the Ballon d’Or during this period had it not been for the Covid-19 pandemic.
At Bayern Munich, Lewandowski was the quintessential attacking focal point. Harnessed by the creativity of teammates like Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Müller, the Pole was free to focus his energy on finding good goalscoring positions. He did this better than anyone else, scoring 55 goals in all competitions including 15 in 10 Champions League games.
This has provided Flick with a template to once again get the best out of Lewandowski. Last season, Xavi Hernández asked the 36-year-old to play as an all-round centre forward, frequently dropping Lewandowski deep to involve him in Barcelona’s build-up. This, however, limited his threat as a penalty box presence.
Now, though, Lewandowski is being played into rather than through. While the Pole had Coman, Gnabry and Müller to buzz around him at Bayern Munich, he now has Pedri, Raphinha, and Lamine Yamal with Dani Olmo another option in attacking midfield after joining from RB Leipzig in the summer transfer window.
“He looks just like the player I remember from his Bayern days, when he was always the best in the opponent’s box – the one player who was always ready to score,” said Flick when asked about Lewandowski’s recent form and how he has managed to revitalise a player who looked every one of his 36 years last season.
Barcelona are counter-pressing as a unit more effectively. They are winning the ball high up the pitch more often and supplying Lewandowski more regularly as a result. Indeed, the striker is averaging 4.4 shots per game this season, an increase from 2.7 shots per game last season. As Lewandowski puts it, “now I receive more and better passes, with more space.”
The emergence of Yamal as a generational talent has helped Barcelona reach a higher level this season with the teenager already on 10 goal contributions for the campaign. Xavi has surely pondered how much stronger his Barca team would have been had they been able to rely on Yamal in his current form. He is getting better and better.
Lewandowski and Yamal have combined for two league goals this season with Raphinha another played who has linked up well with the Pole, setting him up for two of his three hat trick goals against Alavés. As remarkable as Lewandowski’s turnaround in fortunes has been, it doesn’t compare to that of Raphinha’s who has gone from written off as a flop to one of Flick’s most reliable performers.
Flick’s Barcelona are still a work-in-progress. While the Catalans are setting the early pace at the top of La Liga, the recent defeats to Osasuna and Monaco exposed how vulnerable they can be against opponents with the pace and boldness to get in behind. In defensive transition, Barca remain shaky.
Bayern Munich supporters will remember how Flick’s aggressive high line gave the Bavarians problems, particularly towards the end of his tenure as manager. It requires extremely mobile and positionally intelligent centre backs to pull off. Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martínez, however, are still building an understanding together. At only 17, Cubarsi is still learning on the job.
At the base of the midfield, Marc Casado is doing an admirable job after being fast-tracked into the first team from Barcelona B, but the 21-year-old lacks the true rhythm building ability of the best number sixes. The youngster is also still building physicality and could be overwhelmed when Barca face stronger opponents over the course of the campaign.
Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is expected to miss the rest of the season after rupturing a patella tendon last month and so there are questions over the goalkeeping position. Iñaki Peña has filled in for the injured German in recent matches while Wojciech Szczęsny has come out of retirement to give Flick another option, but neither player is on Ter Stegen’s level.
Ultimately, Barcelona are still in the midst of a transition and it would be unrealistic to expect everything to come together in just one season. Ironically, the club’s perilous financial situation has forced them to re-establish the player pathway between La Masia and the first team, setting Barca up for the next generation. The future is bright.
Of course, Lewandowski can’t plan too far into the future given his veteran status, but Flick has shown there much more left in the tank of the Polish striker. Barcelona signed Lewandowski to lead their forward line as one of the best goalscorers of his generation and that’s exactly what he is proving himself as all over again this season.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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