Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez cannot be accused of shying away from big decisions in 2024. Thus far he has dropped Joao Felix from the line-up altogether, while Robert Lewandowski has also seen his untouchable status under threat. On Sunday night he started two 16-year-olds against Real Betis too, handing a first start to Pau Cubarsi.
Lewandowski has not been hitting the heights expected of him this season, although he does still have 12 goals and 5 assists in 27 appearances. However thus far, he has been underperforming his expected goals this year. Despite two goals in the Spanish Supercup, as Barcelona found themselves searching for a goal against Betis, Lewandowski was withdrawn with 27 minutes to go. This follows on from their last league game against Las Palmas, where he was taken off for Vitor Roque with 18 minutes to go, again while Barcelona needed a winner.
🚨 Lewandowski had 0 shots yesterday and also did not attempt a single dribble. Of the 12 passes he tried, only 5 were successful, in addition to losing possession on 8 occasions. He was also offside twice. These are some very poor numbers from the Pole, who as seen yesterday, is… pic.twitter.com/2JTfFRJgPl
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 22, 2024
The 35-year-old had only been taken off twice when that was the case before, one of which while he was coming back from injury, and the other during a meaningless Champions League game against Royal Antwerp. Sport say the hope is that by putting pressure on Lewandowski with the presence of Roque, that they can get back the best version of the Polish striker. Not only has his finishing declined, but so has his play. More or less since returning from the World Cup, he has not looked as sharp, marking almost a year of underwhelming performances.
