Barcelona are licking their wounds following defeat to Real Madrid on Wednesday night, having been eliminated from the Copa del Rey in troubling fashion. As the Catalan side work out where things went wrong, a concerning trend has been pointed out by Diario AS.
Robert Lewandowski was signed ot be the leader and the star of this Barcelona side, paying over the odds to bring in the 34-year-old from Bayern Munich. He has so far scored 27 goals and given 7 assists in his 35 games this season, a stellar record that puts him at the top of the Pichichi race and Barcelona top of the league.
Yet in the cup competitions, his record is somewhat less impressive. He has 10 goals in 12 games, but at each of the crucial points, save for the Supercopa, Lewandowski has been unable to make the difference.
Defeat against Inter in Milan in the Champions League ultimately condemned Barcelona to elimination at the group stage. In the Europa League, Lewandowski was only able to get on the scoresheet via a penalty at Old Trafford, missing a crucial chance to level things late on against Manchester United. Finally, in the Copa del Rey, Lewandowski was absent for the first leg but unable to score in the second.
Lewandowski was poor at Camp Nou on Wednesday, and it made it just one goal in four attempts, his only effort coming in the Spanish Supercup. Diario AS highlight that Lewandowski was signed to be the face of this Barcelona side, yet his record in big games is questionable.
Perhaps the criticism is harsh given Lewandowski did score a brace against Inter at Camp Nou, and while it was a penalty, he did score against United. Yet it’s true that the performances in those big games have left Barcelona fans wanting more. At the age of 34, Barcelona can’t afford their €45m to come up short.