Robert Lewandowski has been playing for FC Barcelona for over two years now and has been convincing there too. However, the exceptional Polish striker has now revealed how La Liga has surprised him in a negative way.
At Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern, Lewandowski was convincing across the board, with 312 goals in 384 Bundesliga appearances speaking for themselves. In the summer of 2022, the Pole decided to change the scenery and signed with FC Barcelona. There, he has now scored 64 goals in 95 league games. In an interview with Barca One, however, he revealed that Spanish football is not what he had expected.
“I expected technically demanding football to be played,” said the striker. But after just a few games, he realized “that everything is different than I remembered. Now there are many teams that play defensively, commit fouls and constantly try to destroy.”
Lewandowski therefore concludes that the “attacking style of play” that once made Spanish football so attractive and popular has now “disappeared. There are very few teams left that dare to play offensively.” He also noted that in La Liga “there used to be many more goals per game on average – and not just in the duels between the strongest teams.”
Nowadays, the game has become much more physical and that has had an impact on the quality of the game. The 36-year-old would like to see a little more support for the offensive players. While understanding that you want to disrupt the offensive, Lewandowski is bothered by the fact that “the referees sometimes allow unfair play. We are always told that there should be limits to rough or dirty play, but we still don’t know what those limits are. In Spain, it’s acceptable to grab someone and take them to the ground, but in my opinion, that sometimes goes too far. I think the attacking style of football should be encouraged a little more.”
Big goals with Barcelona
However, under Hansi Flick, an attacking football is being played at the Catalans – and that is paying off for the Blaugrana. Barca is still on course for a treble. They lead the league ahead of Real Madrid, who have the same number of points, and are in the semi-finals of the cup. After drawing 4-4 in the first leg against Atletico, everything is still to play for in Madrid. And in the Champions League, the Iberians are awaiting the quarter-final duel with Lewandowski’s former club Borussia Dortmund at the beginning of April.
The Pole doesn’t want to look too far ahead, he prefers to think from “game to game”, but he also admits that he is always hungry for success. “I always want to win everything. I hope that we can get the trophy that I haven’t won yet. And winning the Champions League is always a dream. It would be something very special to achieve that with this club, but there’s still a long way to go.”
Incidentally, he is very taken with Barcelona as a city. “People are more open and welcoming here,” noted Lewandowski, who said that FC Barcelona’s greatness is evident almost everywhere, “even at pre-season tournaments. I’ve played for big clubs, but Barca is something else. The excitement that surrounds it makes it unique. I’m not saying it’s better, but with Barcelona I felt like I was in the right place from day one.”
