Erling Haaland may very well be to blame for the fact that most people are not talking about Robert Lewandowski’s strong start at Barcelona. In four La Liga games the Polish national has put the ball in the back of the net five times. Over his time in Germany he only scored under 20 goals in a season twice. Both of those times being his first seasons with Borussia Dortmund, and Bayern Munich respectively. The La Liga season is just beginning, but he’s well on his way to more than 20 goals this year with relative ease. Is Lewandowski’s pace sustainable to the point where he’ll be the focal point of Barcelona’s offense this year? Maybe the goals he’s scored so far are more of a product of a weak schedule.
The Schedule May Not Be As Weak As Advertised
Lewandowski drew some criticism after the first La Liga game when Barcelona was held scoreless in a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano. He even had some unfortunate comments complaining about the shady tactics that Rayo players used to keep him at bay. It was looking like Lewandowski may have been having second thoughts about his move to Spain.
In the first minute of the second game though, he put the ball in the back of the net against Real Sociedad. He would go on to score his first brace that match. The schedule wasn’t necessarily as “easy” for Barcelona as some people may think. This certainly adds value to Lewandowski’s goal scoring antics. Real Sociedad fought Atlético Madrid to a 1-1 draw this weekend, while Barcelona cruised through their match with the men from San Sebastián.
Real Sociedad 1-4 Barcelona highlights.
— Lij (@ElijahKyama) August 23, 2022
Robert Lewandowski with a brace on his birthday. Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati with a goal each. pic.twitter.com/17je3es6rp
The Polish striker followed that performance up with another brace against Valladolid. Perhaps this is going to be one of the easiest games that Barcelona is going to have all year. The team owned by the original Ronaldo, is one of the weakest sides in all of La Liga, and Robert Lewandowski certainly took advantage of that.
The Win Versus Sevilla Has Barcelona Fans Excited
Up to this point in the season fans were potentially delighted that Lewandowski had started to put balls on the back of the net. However, the team had yet to face another of La Liga’s top teams. That was until they squared up against Sevilla this weekend. Lewandowski once again put a ball in the back of the net en route to a 3-0 victory for his side. Is this early success in League plays sustainable? After all Sevilla have stumbled out of the gate. Their best result in La Liga so far was a draw with Valladolid. Can this new Barcelona win be considered part of that “easy” schedule out of the blocks or is this team for real?
What To Expect From Lewandowski In The Coming Games
The good news for Lewandowski and Barcelona is that they are still going to get a few games against teams that, at least on paper, are supposed to be inferior to them. Their debut in the Champions League is against Viktoria Plzen, then they get Cadiz in La Liga. It’s until the second Champions League matchday that the team is going to be facing its first true test of the season. It will be against none other than Lewandowski’s former team Bayern Munich. The last few times that these teams have met the results have been outright embarrassing for Barcelona.
With this in mind, it’s great news for Barcelona that Lewandowski is finding ways to score goals against what has proven to be lower tier competition. That’s the best way to stay in La Liga contention! We’ll have to wait and see if Lewandowski can continue finding the back of the net against tougher competition. He’s gotten a nice start out of the gate, but Xavi, and the fans would do well to proceed with caution.
