- Robert Lewandowski failed to score for Barcelona in their match against Shakhtar Donnetsk
- The top La Liga scorer of last season hasn’t scored since September
- Lewandowski has not scored in his longest drought since he played outside Poland.
Robert Lewandowski said earlier in the season that he was “a machine” before Barcelona. “Here I am more human.” “
Lewandowski, for years as a Borussia Dortmund player and later during his time at Bayern Munich was regarded as the ideal ultimate goal scorer. No gain was too small for Lewandowski, who is always looking to update his software. He does his concentration exercises during his free time and has pudding as his first course on days off because the sugar digests faster than the protein.
The sands are catching up with even the player who Pep Guardiola praised as the “most professional I have ever met”.
Lewandowski was a solitary figure at the end of Barcelona’s inefficient attack for 90 minutes , as they lost 1-0 to Shakhtar in Tuesday’s Champions League. Lewandowski had not scored in his six consecutive club matches, which was the longest drought he has experienced for more than 12 year.
Since a brace in September against Celta, the once prolific Pole is yet to score. Lewandowski has also missed nine of his shots in this period, totaling 0.86 xG. (per ESPN ).
The recent decline in performance in front of the goal is dramatic but it’s a continuation of the downward trend that has started since the World Cup. Lewandowski averaged a goal for Barcelona every 89 minutes in both the European league and the domestic one. This figure has increased to one goal every 167 mins in 2023.
Lewandowski’s drop isn’t as extreme when you look at the numbers. He was on a hot streak of finishing in 2022, and has had more missed chances this year than anticipated. But it is clear that he is receiving fewer opportunities to score.
Lewandowski’s struggles are not unique. Barcelona managed just one goal-bound shot against Shakhtar. Xavi acknowledged that his team “deserved to win”. Barcelona manager screamed, “We didn’t play well and our plans failed.” We are furious. We are angry.
Robert Lewandowski’s longest goals droughts in each club
Robert Lewandowski is this goal-shy ever since he was at Borussia Dortmund / Getty Images/sampics
| Club | Time period | Goalless matches in consecutive games |
|---|---|---|
| Barcelona | 26/09/23 – 07/11/23* | 6 |
| Bayern Munich | 21/09/16 – 15/10/16 | 5 |
| Borussia Dortmund | 11/12/10 – 26/02/11 | 10 |
| Lech Poznan | 12/11/08 – 26/02/09 | 10 |
| Znicz Pruszkow | 19/08/07 – 15/09/07 | 6 |
Andy Carroll, the eight most expensive football player of all time at the last time Lewandowski lasted this long without scoring a goal.
Borussia Dortmund was so afraid of spending less than EUR5m in 2010 on an unproven Polish striker that it sent 30 different scouts to watch him play for Lech Poznan. After a failed attempt to sign Lewandowski at Blackburn Rovers, Jurgen Klipp used him behind Lucas Barrios as the second striker.
The dry spell was explained by this withdrawn role. The Dortmund team’s excellent form in the first half of this year, which saw Lewandowski lose just one out of ten matches without a goal, meant that the gnashing teeth was minimal.
Klopp reorganized the team’s offensive strategy around the muscular, mobile and able-bodied frontman. In his 11 years in Germany, LewanGOALski never missed more than 5 consecutive matches for Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich.
Last year at this time, the Spanish media produced its own homages of Thomas Muller’s most terrible dad jokes by referring to the Pole as GOALandowski or LETHALdowski. Both far inferior. Xavi referred to him as a “guarantee for goals”.
If Barcelona is to win the La Liga and escape more European misery this season, it will be necessary for last year’s leading scorer to repeat all of his tricks and rituals.
