Barcelona duo Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan are undoubtedly the most high-profile veterans in the side, after Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba all left in the last year. And already share a relationship from their time in Germany together.
Both came within minutes of winning the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund together, before Lewandowski moved to Bayern Munich, their downfall, and Gundogan to Manchester City.
During a recent video posted by Movistar+, the comfort they have around each other was evident, as they quizzed one other.
“To which team was I supposed to go to, before the famous eruption of the Icelandic volcano?” asked Lewandowski.
“I read this somewhere… Was it Italy?”
“It was Blackburn Rovers!”
“Quizá, si hubieras fichado por el Blackburn, habrías ganado el Balón de Oro…😜”.
El vacile de Gündogan a Lewandowski. #UCL #LaCasaDelFútbol pic.twitter.com/nZ8ZLtYnu1
— Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) October 23, 2023
“Maybe if you’d gone there you would have won a Ballon d’Or already,” laughed Gundogan.
“Did he just say that?” asked Lewandowski to those off camera.
Lewandowski has admitted previously that before moving to Dortmund, he was close to moving to Blackburn, but his flight to England was cancelled by the ash cloud looming over Europe, and eventually the move did not transpire as a result.
During his time at Bayern Munich, Lewandowski was outspoken about his candidacy for the Ballon d’Or, believing he should have won it during the year France Football cancelled the award due to Covid-19. Lionel Messi would dedicate the award the following year to Lewandowski – Gundogan clearly feels it is not enough of a sensitive topic to joke about it.
