And, if he has it, it is the goal. Nobody knows this better than Borussia Dortmund: the Pole scored 27 goals in 26 games against them, their favorite rival. The goals received, however, were not the hardest thing to digest for Borussia fans. After winning two Bundesliga (2011 and 2012), a Cup (2012), a Super Cup (2013) and reaching the Champions League final, with four goals including against Real Madrid in the semifinal (2013), Lewandowski left Dortmund in 2014 to go to Bayern for free. Today Dortmund crosses the Pole’s path again (9:00 p.m., Movistar). The yellow wall, the famous and noisy tribune of the Signal Iduna Park, is distressed, in the same way that Hansi Flick’s Barça is excited. You need it.
“He is a key player, he is always in the right place in the area, he has a lot of quality, but the team also has it. They both benefit from this relationship,” highlights Hansi Flick, who recovers Ronald Araujo for the duel against Dortmund. At the dawn of the season, a Barcelona team that was as surprising as it was overwhelming, as intense as it was a scorer, coincided with the best version of the Pole. “We had to build the environment in which the player could perform better,” the coach boasted after the win at the Bernabéu (0-4).
But Barça’s smile began to fade during their visit to the Reale Arena. Also Lewandowski’s. Another Barça; another Lewandowski, more similar to the one who faded with Xavi than the one who stood out with Flick. The Pole, who, until then, had an average of 3.69 shots per duel, returned from San Sebastián with zero shots. And since that game, his shot average has dropped to 1.5. And his goals dropped from an average of 1.19 to 0.67. “We have to be inspired in attack and defense.
A team for Lewy
Barça suffers when Lewandowski becomes smaller in the opposing area: their football is built, mainly, to exploit the best version of their forward. The locker room also suffers. “He’s not the most pleasant teammate when he doesn’t score,” they emphasize in the locker room. There are others, however, who complain about the dosage of their efforts: “We run for it.” It is precisely this attitude of the Pole that had been the trigger for the breakdown of the relationship with Xavi. In fact, Xavi had asked for his head to continue leading the bench.
Joan Laporta ruled out the option of transferring the 9 with the same euphoria with which he signed Hansi Flick. The common thread of the story: Pini Zahavi, representative of Lewandowski and
The arrival of Flick renewed Lewandowski. In the preseason, for example, he sought to smooth things over with Lamine. “He sent him a couple of messages,” explains a locker room source. “At the beginning of my stay here, I needed to understand the new generation: their way of thinking and everything,” Lewandowski told The Athletic in an interview.
Nobody doubts it at Barcelona: Lewandowski tried. However, his cordiality fades when his goals disappear. It is in those moments when Flick’s hand appears. “All the players appreciate it because if someone is completely honest with you, then you can understand their decisions better,” explains the striker. When he observed that his 9 was as tired as it was unfocused, especially against Las Palmas. The Pole rested against Mallorca. “He has played a lot of minutes and he needs to rest,” Flick explained the Pole’s substitution before facing Betis, a duel in which he was also replaced when the final result was still being written.
Barça needs Lewandowski. And Lewandowski, a difficult teammate, an impeccable striker, needs to recover his memory. His only memory: that of the goal. Few better houses, then, than the one in Dortmund.
