The real Robert Lewandowski is back! Reborn Barcelona striker putting up Lionel Messi-esque numbers after reunion with ex-Bayern Munich boss Hansi Flick

Robert Lewandowski has scored 12 times during the opening 10 rounds of La Liga’s new season. The last player to achieve that feat? The GOAT, Lionel Messi, in 2019-20. Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has been full of praise for Lewandowski’s stunning start to the season – but he’s not been surprised by it.

“This is the Robert I know,” the former Bayern Munich coach said. “I never knew another.” It’s a fair point, of course. Lewandowski broke the Bundesliga single-season goals record during his time playing under Flick at the Allianz Arena. So, he’s well used to seeing the striker scoring freely.

But while Flick has never known another Lewandowski, Barca have. Last season, in fact, time appeared to be catching up with the veteran striker. Flick’s appointment as manager, though, has resulted in the return of the real Robert Lewandowski…

• Getty Images

  ‘In love’

  Barca’s decision to sign Lewandowski from Bayern in July 2022 raised plenty of eyebrows. There was no questioning the man’s world-class quality, but the wisdom of investing €45 million (£37.5m/$49m) in a 34-year-old striker was understandably questioned by several pundits, given the Blaugrana were almost broke.

  As then-Bayern boss Julian Nagelsmann sniped, “It’s the only club in the world that can buy players without having any money. It’s kind of weird and crazy.”

  However, Joan Laporta’s lever-pulling paid off, with Lewandowski playing a pivotal role in Barca winning the Spanish title, with the centre-forward hitting 23 goals in 34 league games.

  “His signing was fantastic,” former Barca coach Xavi enthused. “He makes the team play. He reads space perfectly. I’m in love!” Unfortunately, the love affair didn’t last long.

  • (C)Getty Images

    Transfer talk

    Xavi was forced out of Barcelona at the end of last season by Laporta after initially being convinced by the club president to reverse his previous decision to resign. Flick was promptly confirmed as the Catalan’s successor, but despite his employers hiring a coach with whom Lewandowski had played arguably the best football of his long and illustrious career, there was speculation that the Warsaw native might leave Barca during the summer.

    It was claimed that Jose Mourinho wanted him at Fenerbahce, as well as reports that LA Galaxy were considering reuniting Lewandowski with his old Borussia Dortmund team-mate Marco Reus.

  • AFP

    Legs gone?!

    On the face of it, such speculation didn’t appear to make much sense. After all, Lewandowski had just finished as Barca’s top scorer for the second successive season.

    However, he’d only managed 19 league goals – a decent haul for an average striker, but worryingly poor for one of the greats of the modern game. Indeed, it was Lewandowski’s lowest tally since his first season at Bayern, all the way back in 2014-15.

    The idea of Barca removing Lewandowski and his sizable salary from their wage bill wasn’t just related to his decreasing strike-rate, either. In fact, it was more down to the general lethargy and ineffectiveness of his all-round game.

    He no longer looked mobile enough to lead the Barca attack. Truth be told, at times it looked as if his legs had gone. In that context, it was hardly a shock to see Laporta bring in Brazilian teenager Vitor Roque in January with a view to replacing Lewandowski sooner or later.

  • Getty Images Sport

    ‘All look better on the pitch’

    However, Roque failed miserably to make an impact at Barca and has already been sent out on loan to Real Betis for the 2024-25 campaign. Lewandowski, by complete contrast, now looks reborn, and thus more than capable of being the Blaugrana’s main man for at least another couple of seasons.

    Flick’s arrival has obviously helped enormously in that regard.

    “We have such a good relationship that sometimes we don’t even have to talk much to each other and I’ll still know what to do and what the coach expects from me,” Lewandowski explained to reporters. “I am getting more chances and more passes. But everyone on the pitch is playing at their best level. We all look better on the pitch.”

    He’s got a point. One of Barca’s biggest failings last season was their costly propensity for tiring in the final quarter of games. Consequently, Laporta wanted a “fitter and stronger” side, so he turned to Flick, whose treble-winning Bayern team were renowned for their work-rate and high press.

    Significantly, Pedri is among those to have attributed Barca’s impressive start to the season to the fact that they “work much harder than before”. “The new fitness coaches that have come in are really good for us,” the midfielder admitted. “You notice it in the games. The team doesn’t dip after the 70th or 80th minute, it maintains the same fitness levels.”

  • Getty Images Sport

    ‘Don’t feel tired’

    Lewandowski has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Barca’s increased intensity, with the likes of Pedri, Raphinha – who has been a revelation this season – and Lamine Yamal constantly creating opportunities for the No.9 in Flick’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.

    “Everyone supports him and, at the end, he always knows what to do in the box,” Flick said. “For me, in front of goal, he’s the best. It’s amazing to have such a period where you’re always scoring. It’s very good, so I’m really happy with him. And you can also see that he’s 100 percent fit.”

    Indeed, Lewandowski looks a very different beast to last season and it’s telling that he is not even entertaining thoughts of retiring right now.

    “I wake up in the morning and don’t have any pain,” he revealed. “I don’t feel tired, and I don’t have this kind of mind like: ‘Oh, no, I have to go to the training!’ So, I’m still feeling that I am in a good position physically, even though I’ve turned 36, but still, physically, my condition looks very good.”

  • AFP

    ‘Best No.9 of the last 10 years’

    The question now, of course, is whether Lewandowski is back for good? We should have a pretty good idea by the end of the week, with Barca set to host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday before taking on hated rivals Real Madrid in a top-of-the-table Clasico clash at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.

    They will be two tough tests for Barca, and Lewandowski in particular. But he could hardly be going into the games in better shape, physically or mentally.

    During the summer, there was some doubt over whether Lewandowski would maintain his record of scoring at least 25 goals in all competitions for a 14th consecutive season. But he’s already got 14 in 12 outings so far this term – nobody else across Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues has more – and really does look like the fearsome forward everyone remembers from his peak years at Bayern.

    Flick believes “Robert is the best No.9 of the last decade” and while that claim is open to debate, there’s no disputing that this is the best version of Lewandowski we’ve seen in Spain. “I’m realising,” he said recently, “that the hard work I’ve done and that I’m still doing is paying off.” And a still cash-strapped Barcelona are reaping the rewards.