Dhe curse of Robert Lewandowski is broken – as the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” wrote on Monday. In the fourth game for FC Barcelona, the world player finally scored his first goal in the Catalans’ jersey. In the 6-0 win against the Mexicans from Pumas UNAM, the long-time Bayern pro opened the scoring before the end of the third minute of the game. After the goal, two assists and a very good performance on the Camp Nou debut, the Pole was showered with praise.
“He makes the Camp Nou dream,” wrote the specialist newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”. The spectators were repeatedly torn from their seats on Sunday evening, it said. Meanwhile, the competing newspaper “Sport” headlined a picture of the jubilant Lewandowski in large letters: “Spectacular”.
Barça’s king transfer was also honored as the best player in the match for the Joan Gamper Trophy after the final whistle. The soon to be 34-year-old professional hit it off brilliantly in front of the more than 83,000 enthusiastic spectators, especially with the young playmaker Pedri (19), the media found. The young Spain international explained: “Being able to play with Lewandowski is a luxury. It’s very easy to get along with a footballer like that.” Now they want to win a lot of titles.
The team with national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen starts on Saturday evening (9 p.m. on DAZN) at home against Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league. While Barcelona looks forward to the upcoming gala performances, the ‘Lewa-Pedri’ duo are already causing concern in Madrid, home of arch-rivals, La Liga champions and Champions League winners Real. “You really have to watch out for these two,” wrote the specialist newspaper “AS” there, for example.
Meanwhile, Dutch national soccer player Frenkie de Jong wants to stay at FC Barcelona, according to club president Joan Laporta. “He has offers, but we want him to stay and he wants to stay,” Laporta told Spanish sports daily Mundo Deportivo. De Jong has recently been linked with a move to the English Premier League. Manchester United and Barcelona had already agreed on a transfer fee of around 85 million euros in July, but the transfer has not yet materialized due to the player’s lack of approval.
According to reports, Chelsea, led by team manager Thomas Tuchel, are also interested in de Jong. According to media reports, Barcelona are demanding that the 25-year-old waive part of his salary in view of the club’s financial problems. De Jong should regularly earn around ten million euros with the Catalans in the coming season. The Dutchman came on as a half-time substitute against Los Pumas on Sunday and scored the final just before the end.
After leaving FC Barcelona, Lewandowski considers FC Bayern Munich to be more variable on the offensive. “I have no doubt that they will score their goals without me. I’m sure other players will score more goals now than in previous years. They are very variable and have so much quality that they don’t need a classic nine,” Lewandowski said in an interview with TV station Sport1.
The world footballer is full of praise for the triumphant Jamal Musiala (19). “Bambi (Musiala’s nickname/ed.) is a special talent, like Pedri, Gavi or Ansu Fati at Barça. It’s impressive how quickly he’s matured and adapted to the level at Bayern – but also how much he keeps working on himself and wants to learn more,” said Lewandowski. “It’s amazing, as is his dribbling with his long legs. I’m sure he’ll get even better. A great future lies ahead of him. Time is on his side.”
After leaving the Bundesliga, Dortmund’s Sebastien Haller would have been a candidate for successor as top scorer for Lewandowski. “Haller would actually be a candidate, but his illness is very bad. I hope he recovers well and we see him back on the pitch soon. Get well soon. Otherwise, FC Bayern have enough players who can score a lot of goals,” said Lewandowski.
The Pole had been top scorer for FC Bayern five times in a row – the national striker was at the top of this ranking seven times in total. Haller (28) was recently diagnosed with a malignant testicle tumor and will be out for several months at Borussia Dortmund.
