FC Barcelona: 2024, the year of recovery for Robert Lewandowski?

If FC Barcelona has struggled to stand out offensively for several weeks, the poor form of its star striker Robert Lewandowski is no stranger to this. After a rather confident start to the season with 6 goals and 4 goals in his first two months of competition, the Polish striker clearly experienced a decline in his fall 2023, only finding the net three times. Very little found in the penalty area, he suffered somewhat from the lack of offensive creativity of Xavi Hernandez’s flock, criticized more than once since the start of this exercise due to performances below expectations, which clearly do not correspond not to the DNA so defended by the Catalan leadership. However, entering this new year 2024, RL9 managed to break the curse in front of goal…

After 23 goals scored in the league last year, Lewandowski is far from his standards (8 in 17 days played in La Liga), with 5 goals behind the top scorer, Jude Bellingham. But for his last two games in January, he quickly regained his confidence against the last rampart, winning the penalty obtained at the end of the match against UD Barbastro in the Copa del Rey (3-2) before opening the score in Saudi Arabia against Osasuna in the semi-final of the Supercopa (2-0). Two victories first confirming a statistic: Barça has not lost 26 of the 31 matches during which the Pole with 146 caps (82 goals) found the net, in all competitions (24 wins, 2 draws). The last defeat of the Blaugrana number 9 dates back to December 10 against Girona in La Liga.

Real to kick off its year?

His first real test of 2024? Real Madrid, in the final of the Spanish Super Cup this Sunday evening (8 p.m.). An opponent who is doing well for him in this competition organized in Riyadh since he was a scorer then a decisive passer to lift the national trophy last winter against Casa Blanca (3-1). However, in the four other Clasicos contested since his arrival in the summer of 2022, the native of Warsaw has never deceived the vigilance of the Madrid goalkeeper, whether Thibaut Courtois, Kepa Arrizabalaga or even Andriy Lunin. The opportunity for him to not only break his drought against the Madrid goal and allow his club to defend its Supercopa title, to offer Xavi his first trophy of the season. Enough to avoid a blank season, Barça being third in La Liga and still in the race for the final phase of the Champions League.

In short, FC Barcelona will hope to count on the former scorer for Bayern Munich, where he had a string of seasons with more than 40 goals between the club and the selection. A milestone that he did not manage to achieve in Catalonia, but the change in sporting environment and age, he who celebrated his 35th birthday at the start of the season, can explain this drop in form at the accounting level. Less mobile in the final third than usual, Lewandowski offers fewer offensive solutions to his teammates in the zone of truth. But with the arrival of young Vitor Roque this winter from Athletico Paranaense, he will be obliged to show a much better face in the coming weeks if he does not want to see the Auriverde international (1 selection) pass to him ahead in the hierarchy of advanced attackers. First elements of response against the Merengues this Sunday evening.