Barcelona’s goal in the 37th minute perfectly summarized Robert Lewandowski’s performance against PSG. He went lower, received the ball in the center circle, easily jumped away from the defenders, turned towards the goal and moved forward. He looked around and passed the ball to Lamine Yamala and ran into the penalty area. When the teenager crossed, he was already there. Gianluigi Donnarumma beat him by a fraction of a second, but he deflected the ball straight to Raphinha’s feet. And he didn’t have time to collect himself. PSG’s goal was blocked by only two defenders, so the Brazilian easily scored.
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And that’s exactly what Lewandowski was like in this match: he controlled Barcelona’s attacking game, responded to every pass and played – once to the left, once to the right. He knew when to speed up the action and when to slow down. He played as a false striker to draw PSG’s central defenders away from the goal and create space in their half for the wingers, Lamine Yamala and Raphinha. Xavi used it in a similar way at the end of February in a 4-0 win against Getafe. But since then, the Pole’s form has improved even more. In Paris he was very active and intelligent. He impressed with his back to the goal, worked hard for two and proved that, contrary to the strikers’ slogans, he counts more than just goals. He didn’t score, but he still deserved applause and praise.
Places on the pitch most often occupied by Robert Lewandowski in the match against PSG. Xavi had a special role for him screen SofaScore
The match of a thousand subtexts. Robert Lewandowski is back in Paris
Lewandowski has so far had bittersweet associations with Paris. Beating PSG in the Champions League final in 2020 was a dream come true. With the cup in his hands, wrapped in the Polish flag, he cried with emotion. However, a defeat a year later in the heart of the French capital – in the Theater du Chatelet, where “France Football” awards the Ballon d’Or to the best player in the world, did not allow him to mark the two best seasons of his career. In 2020, the Pole would have been a sure favorite to win, but the plebiscite did not take place. A year later, his chances were not so great, but he still flew to Paris with high hopes – as the scorer of 41 goals in the Bundesliga, German champion, club world champion and winner of the European Super Cup. Behind him he had an interview that a French magazine usually conducts in advance with the future winner. He took his loved ones with him. He sat in the front row, next to Leo Messi and Kylian Mbappe. And he ultimately lost by a hair against the Argentine.
So far, he has also left the Parc des Princes stadium disappointed – while playing for Bayern Munich, he lost there 0:3 in the group stage of the 2017/2018 season, and four years later, he watched, injured, as his team was unable to make up for the losses from the first match and was eliminated from the League. Champions in the quarterfinals. Now he finally managed to win.
It was a match with a thousand more subtexts: with the historic transfer of Neymar in the background, with Luis Enrique who loved Barcelona but was about to finally fulfill PSG’s dream of triumphing in the Champions League, with Xavi who was preparing to take over Barcelona by working for the glory of the Qataris and with their polemics on press conferences, who represents the club’s values more. Finally, it is the story of Barcelona’s epic resurrection in 2017, when they overcame a four-goal deficit in the second leg and won 6-1, scoring the last three goals after the 88th minute. “El Pais” wrote that it was an event of such importance that everyone remembers where and with whom they were when it happened. Like September 11 and terrorist attacks in the USA.
Another role for Lewandowski. Only Raphinha was rated better
When announcing this match, the Catalan media looked mainly to Lewandowski for hope of defeating PSG. “Sport” wrote that the Pole was approaching the most important matches in the best shape. Journalist Adria Albets from “SER Catalunya” added that last week he underwent tests that showed that he was not so well prepared physically this season, and “Mundo Deportivo” argued that he had the last weekend off and ten days to prepare. for the match against PSG, they will be most useful to him, because he will rest after the play-off matches of the Polish national team and at the right time he will implement individual training, thanks to which he has rebuilt after the poor end of 2023.
This has largely been confirmed. Lewandowski was one of Barcelona’s best players and had a huge impact on its game. He did a lot of good just by positioning himself and moving around the pitch. This was best seen in the 6th minute when, just like during the goal, he moved to the center of the pitch and took both PSG central defenders with him, and the space created behind them was used by Raphinha, who blindly followed the ball kicked by Marc-Andre ter Stegen. He only had Donnarumma ahead of him and by then he should have put Barcelona in front.
Lewandowski seemed content with his role despite not having many opportunities to score. The closest he came was in the 20th minute when, after a corner kick, he jumped higher than Marquinhos and beat Donnarumma, who was hesitantly punching. He hit the ball with his head and hit the goal, but it was cleared by one of PSG’s defenders just before the line. In two other actions, the Pole threw up his hands in anger: the first time he was denied the pass by Joao Cancelo, and the second time by Lamine Yamal. He finished the match with the second highest score on the “Sofa Score” website – he was rated 7.5. He fired two shots (one on target) and had 50 touches with the ball, as much as 91%. his passes were accurate (29 out of 32), he won six out of eight duels, he was fouled three times, and he fouled once.
What changes for Xavi! “He changed the game”
Barcelona had another hero of this match off the pitch. Xavi was tactical, played the role perfectly for Lewandowski and Raphinha, thanks to which he led 1-0 at the break, and then – in the most difficult moment, when PSG scored two goals right after the break – he helped the team with changes. He changed the game. In the 61st minute, he introduced Pedri, and the Spaniard assisted in the equalizing goal a minute later. In the 75th minute, Andreas Christensen introduced the score and scored a goal with his first touch to make it 3-2.
Tuesday’s Champions League quarterfinals delighted and whetted appetites. The match between Real Madrid and Manchester City will be remembered for years. The match between PSG and Barcelona was not that unpredictable, nor was it marked by three phenomenal goals, but it had good pace and twists. Something else that delights is Barcelona’s flourishing in recent months. Her growing self-confidence and ability to respond to failures. It no longer falls over after the slightest blow. He can even survive the hurricane caused by Dembele’s dribbling and Mbappe’s speed. When necessary, he grits his teeth and desperately defends his own goal, but even then he does not stop hunting for counter-attacks. Therefore, he has a valuable advance before the rematch.
2024-04-10 21:31:00
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