A 36 -year -old Polish striker, already away from his peak. A 28 Brazilian, pressured by two disappointing seasons. And a young Spanish young man of 17, from whom he could already expect a lot, but not that at this age he could hear comparisons between his trajectory and that of Lionel Messi.
At the beginning of the 2024/25 season, few could point Barcelona as a candidate for the feeling of European football. Few would say that the cast commanded by German Hansi Flick would have the chance to match the iconic Catalan team led by the trio Messi/Suárez/Neymar in the past decade.
But expectations have been broken with the success of the attack formed Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal.
This Tuesday (15), the trio was not on its most inspired day and passed blank. The team lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund and risked Germany, but advanced to the Champions League semifinals thanks to the 4-0 win built in the first leg.
Ramy Bensebaini played against herself, braked Dortmund’s reaction and allowed Barcelona to recompose to keep her journey alive in search of the triple crown. Leader of the Spanish Championship, the team is also qualified for the King Cup final.
The club has not has a season with so many glory since 2014/15, when the famous MSN trio scored 131 goals – 72% of those scored by the Catalan team. This blue-blue formation enchanted the world of football and obtained the triple glory under the command of Spanish Luis Enrique, today Paris Saint-Germain coach, also semifinalist at Champions 2024/25.
The current front trio has scored 82 times – as more than half of the cast goals, with 56.1% – and is the most lethal of European football of the season. It surpasses Kane, Musiala and Olise, who scored 65 by Bayern Munich, Dembélé, Boat and Gonçalo Ramos, who made 64 for PSG, and Mbappé, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo, who shook the network 64 times by Real Madrid.
The fans have excited the way they play the Catalan team’s attack. Raphinha’s physical explosion and work with and without possession of the ball, Yamal’s improvisation capacity and Lewandowski’s efficiency are some of the most outstanding attributes.
In the first confrontation with Dortmund last week, the 4-0 defeat had a portion of relevant statistics.
It was the third time in the season that the three strikers scored together. The other two matches were against Arquirrival Real Madrid: 4-0 by Spanish and 5-2 in the decision of the Spanish Super Cup.
Also in the rout, Raphinha equaled a record of Messi, with 19 guest appearances in a Championship edition, then with 11 games played (now 12). The Argentine won 19 appearances in 11 games in 2011/12, when the format of the dispute was different from the current, expanded.
Three is missing for the gaucho to match the largest mark in the history of the competition, recorded by Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2013/14, the Portuguese shook the network 17 times and gave five decisive passes, a total of 22 appearances.
Achieving numbers that belong to two geniuses seemed, until recently, far from the reach of Raphinha, who lived difficult times in his first two seasons in Barcelona. He scored only ten goals in 2022/23 and repeated the number by 2023/24. In 2024/25, adding all competitions, there are already 28.
Appointed as one of the competitors to the best in the world, the Brazilian has a chance to finish Champions as a top scorer.
Its main competitor is one of his companions. Already approaching the end of his career, Lewandowski has shown a keen sage, with 11 goals scored in the European tournament, one less than a raphinha.
The dispute does not interfere with the collective objective of the team. Proof of this was precisely the first leg of the clash with Dortmund, with two assists from the Brazilian to the Polish.
With the goals about the team that revealed him, Lewandowski became the first player in history to score ten or more goals in an edition of Champions by three different clubs: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern and Barcelona. In total, with the Catalan association shirt, he adds 99 goals in 145 games.
They help to show the efficiency of the two most experienced athletes in Barcelona trio, in the case of Yamal the numbers serve to attest to their precocity. At 17, the boy boasts higher than other football stars at the same age.
So far, the young Spanish, European champion with Spain in 2024, accumulates 99 matches as a Barcelona professional with 21 goals and 25 assists.
Until he was 18, Messi had only nine games and a goal scored by Barcelona. In this age group, Cristiano Ronaldo participated in 31 duels at Sporting, with five goals and three assists.
Yamal draws attention for the ability to dribble, the good game view and the ability to finish medium and long distance.
Spanish’s talent, added to the scoring phases experienced by Raphinha and Lewandowski, leaves the Catalan team confident that the club will again win Champions for the first time since the 2014/15 title with the MSN trio.
It would be the club’s first cup in an international tournament since the departure of Messi, who said goodbye in 2021 and today operates in the United States.
