The number 9 is usually a thermometer of the sporting health of a team. As is a goalkeeper. Two key positions. The masters of the areas. There where the matches are resolved. You can be at the movies in the wilderness of the wide zone, but at both ends of the field is where the matches are defined. That is why the case of Robert Lewandowski serves as a symptom of Barça’s decline in performance. If the Pole goes on a good streak, the Barça team usually takes flight. If the striker does not score the goal, the Barcelona team usually stops flying. It has happened in this first half of the season.
While Lewandowski, 36, seemed like the Lewandowski who broke records at Bayern, also under the command of Hansi Flick, Barcelona took the lead, overwhelmed Real Madrid and thrashed the Bavarian giant. Then no one remembered his identity card. But, no matter how much he takes care of himself, it is normal that at his age he cannot last the entire season at his best.
It seems that the 36-year-old striker has run out of gas after playing almost everything
Neither pressing nor running nor in terms of reflexes. Against Atlético he missed a called goal. He was only saved from blushing because if he had scored the action would have been annulled for offside. Against Leganés he had two great chances that he wasted and against Las Palmas he was simply a ghost on the pitch. The Barça center forward, and even more so in the current situation, cannot be at home for three games in a row without scoring a goal.
But that’s what has happened. In the first eleven days Lewandowski scored 14 goals and in the next eight he has only scored two. He has 16 goals in 19 games. A respectable figure (in fact it tops the top scorer) but going from more to much less.
He closed 2024 with 40 goals, by far the most accomplished Barcelona player. Raphinha, with his great start to the season, has remained at 24, compared to 12 for Lamine Yamal and 10 for Ferran and Fermín.
When Flick landed at Barcelona and implemented a style of play with a lot of rhythm and suffocating pressure, one of the main beneficiaries was Lewandowski. More crosses, more arrivals, more flow of play and therefore more chances for the Pole, who was also very good at finishing. With the general decline in performance, fewer balls began to reach him, but he has also lost spark, dynamism and is no longer always on the spot. Pedri or Lamine Yamal, the main feeders of the forwards, have had an easier time connecting with Raphinha and even Ferran Torres than with Lewandowski in recent weeks. Bad sign for the battering ram.
On the table is always the question of his age, taking into account that he does not have a natural substitute in the squad, and that of his salary, which increases with the passing of the seasons. This campaign receives 32 million euros.
But beyond his goals and his salary there is the issue of solidarity with the rest of the team. More than once a teammate has reproached him for not trying hard enough without the ball. Lewandowski never starts the pressure. He is dedicated to covering the wingers when they are going to overwhelm the center backs. Against Las Palmas he didn’t even do that. He was punished by being substituted in Mallorca and was later replaced in Seville, Dortmund and against Leganés. Against Atlético it lasted 90 minutes. Without success.
It is the Pole’s third season at Barça and in all three he has had performance slumps. In the first season he started like a rocket and after the World Cup in Qatar he was no longer the same, and last season he was always far from his best records. To the point that Xavi Hernández put his name on the table so that the club could find a way out for him. The dismissal of the Terrassa coach and the arrival of Flick not only ensured Lewandowski’s permanence but also reinforced his stripes. But now it is again in question. His contract expires on June 30, but if he plays around 50% of the games it is automatically renewed for one more season. He has no desire to move and his family, with his wife’s new business in Barcelona, even less so.
But it is clear that the team needs the Lewandowski of September and October to aspire to the titles. Barça will hardly be in the fight for objectives until the end if their center forward does not present top-of-the-line numbers. It is the symptom of nine.
#Lewandowski #symptom
