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| Photo by Lewandowski SNS |
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Robert Lewandowski is still a new world-class player who has crossed the world class.
Barcelona won a landslide 4-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund in the first leg of the 2024-2025 European Champions League (UCL) quarterfinals at 4 a.m. on the 10th (Korea time) at the Estadi Olympics Luis Compagnos in Barcelona, Spain. There is still a second game left, but with this victory, Barcelona booked a place in the semifinals.
As expected, it was a game where the word Lewandowski came out. Lamine Yamal crossed from the right in the third minute of the second half when he was leading 1-0. Hafinya put in a pass with her head, and Lewandowski finished superbly. It may be a goal that looks like a catch, but it was a goal that showed Lewandowski's movement and calmness in front of the net, which fell behind the defender.
Lewandowski scored a net in the 21st minute of the second half. In Barcelona's counterattack, Lewandowski hid his position by positioning himself behind Dortmund defenders' view. When the ball came into the penalty box, Lewandowski, who moved to the center momentarily and was out of the defender's view, finished with a strong ground ball that was difficult for the goalkeeper to stop.
Lewandowski also played a key role in Yamal's additional goal in the 32nd minute of the second half, smashing his former club Dortmund properly. It was also a crazy performance award for the striker who scored the most goals in UCL history.
As recently as last season, Lewandowski was considered to be on the decline now. This is because his scoring ability was gradually decreasing after moving to Barcelona. Lewandowski, who had 33 goals and 8 assists in 46 games in the 2022-2023 season, scored 27 goals and 9 assists in 49 games in the 2023-2024 season. It is a record that other players will receive applause, but criticism has begun to emerge that it is a decline because it is Lewandowski.
When Barcelona regained strength as a whole, Lewandowski was restored to perfection. In the second half of the season, he seemed to be a little tired, but he was like a top-notch player in football history when it came to scoring ability. He has scored 40 goals and three assists in 45 games this season, showing his explosive power in his heyday again.
In fact, it's incredible considering Lewandowski's age. Born in 1988, he is 36 years old. Even after retirement, he is showing the best performance in the world's best league and the best team in the world.
Lewandowski, Kareem Benzema and Luis Suarez are always mentioned when discussing the best strikers in the 2010-2020s. It is undeniable that all three players had tremendous skills, but when it comes to consistency, no player can match Lewandowski. Benzema currently plays in Saudi Arabia and Suarez in the United States.
If Lewandowski leads Barcelona, who is currently aiming for a treble, and shows such scoring ability in the rest of the tournament, he will aim for the Ballon d'Or again, which is still controversial because he will not receive it in the 2020-2021 season.
Reporter Kim Dae-sik rlaeotlr2024@sportschosun.com
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
