Lewandowski is a machine. His second wind at 36 is astounding.
The Polish striker can’t stop scoring
Robert Lewandowski is, perhaps, the best striker of his generation. He joined the 100 UEFA Champions League goal club alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with a brace against Brest. And he’s not really showing signs of slowing down.
He reached 100 goals faster than Ronaldo and almost as fast as Messi, and he has a better scoring rate per match than either over the course of their careers.
When he joined Barcelona, it was assumed his best moments were already behind him. He did win the Pichichi Trophy in his first year, as well as scoring a total of 33 goals across all competitions.
Last season, his numbers took a step back. It wasn’t a major one, but it was still worth noting. With 26 goals, it was Lewandowski’s lowest-scoring season since his first season at Bayern Munich in 2014-15, when he scored 25.
He’s almost certainly going to breeze past that number this season, as he’s already on 22 goals, and it’s not even Christmas.
He, alongside Barcelona, have gotten a second wind under new manager Hansi Flick. Of course, it’s worth noting that his best ever (and third-best ever) scoring season came under Flick at Bayern.
It’s extremely rare to see a player improve when they reach age 36, but that seems to be what’s happening these days.
Lewandowski’s place in the pantheon of great strikers is already secured, it’s just a matter of how much further up the pyramid he could climb. He should already have won a Ballon d’Or, which was somewhat mystifyingly cancelled in 2020 when it could have been awarded, despite the COVID pandemic. He could even win it again next year, depending on many things, of course.
Lewandowski already has two European Golden Shoes, which is tied for third-most all time. With one more, he would surpass the pack and be third, with only one less than Ronaldo and three less than Messi.
For his national team, it’s been hard given that Poland are a minnow in the grand scheme of international football. He has still scored 84 goals, including notably, a FIFA World Cup Knockout goal in the 2022 edition, and six hat-tricks for Poland.
Like I said before, his place in history is already secured. It’s only a matter of how much higher he can climb. And at the moment, it seems like he’s not slowing down, even though he’s edging closer to 40.
Source: barcablaugranes.com
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