Half of Barcelona’s goals bear the same signature: the Golden Boot of the last two seasons. No one tried more than him against Inter. He up to eight times he shot. If there is a footballer who has lived up to what was expected, it is Robert Lewandowski. He was signed, paying 45 million to Bayern, for his aim and has not stopped scoring, celebrating already 14 times.
Nothing defines the Pole better than the shot. It was not in vain that he was top scorer in the Second Division with Znicz Pruszkow and in the First Division of his country with Lech Poznan before leaving for Germany, where he won the Bundesliga top scorer trophy seven times. He now leads the league table, with almost no need for adaptation, with no glimpse of a drop in his performance at 34 years old.
During 17 campaigns, Leo Messi scored 26 goals, 14 of them at the white house, in his 45 classics. Last season the benchmark at the Bernabeu was Aubameyang. The Gabonese scored two goals and provided the assist for Ferran Torres’ third in his only appearance. And now the goal man for the Blaugrana is Lewandowski.
Barça’s 9 knows Madrid well, the team from outside Germany he has faced the most times, eight times, in which he scored six goals. He is sure that Lewandowski will not forget April 24, 2013. That night, as a striker for Borussia, he played a poker game against the Whites in Dortmund. With three wins to his credit and two draws, the torpedo only needs to win at the Bernabeu, where he has only scored once and from a penalty, with the Bayern shirt.
Now it has been more than four years since he has set foot in the Madrid stadium. In fact, he doesn’t know what it’s like to play against Courtois – he’s short – or to have Lunin in front of him. In 2020 Poland and Ukraine played and, although Lunin received two goals, Lewandowski was not in that duel.
The Pole is very clear about his mission. In addition to leading the team and making costumes, he has to finish, his specialty. He averages 17 passes per game but many of his interventions are finishing, to shoot because he tries the shot 4.5 times every 90 minutes.
The rival defenses cannot be calm because they do not have a favorite moment, with seven goals in the first half and seven in the second, and because they are capable of seeing the door in all ways. He has scored ten goals with his right foot, including the backheel against Valladolid and one from outside the area, two with his left foot (the first on his account, in San Sebastian) and two with his head. His repertoire is inexhaustible. It is not surprising that the heir to the torpedo Müller is looking for his 600th professional goal this afternoon: 344 with Bayern, 103 with Dortmund, 76 with Poland, 41 with Lech Poznan, 21 with Znicz Pruszkow and 14 with Blaugrana. He is missing one and his first classic would be the ultimate cake to blow out 600 candles.
