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We rubbed our eyes. It was two dreamlike minutes. October 26, El Clasico, Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid opposite, and Robert Lewandowski scores two goals and puts Barcelona in the lead. The stadium is getting quiet, and we in Poland feel that history is being written. In the most prestigious match A boy from Leszno near Warsaw shines in the world. We have become accustomed to his successes, but such moments encourage us to look at his career in a broader and more sublime way.
What a performance by Lewandowski! Two goals and the “pass of the year”
It was the 54th minute when he first showed Marc Casado where he should play the ball, and after a while he met it exactly in the indicated place. He escaped Real's defenders, with only the goalkeeper in front of him. He didn't run into the penalty area, he shot just in front of the line, right at the post, putting precision above power. And in the next action he scored a header to make it 2-0. He found a place between the two rivals and looked for the same corner again. How symbolic was the behavior of Hansi Flick, the best coach for Lewandowski, who made the same head movement as the Pole on the sideline. They acted in synchrony, in almost telepathic communication. And it was their 100th “joint” goal in just the 85th match, in which Flick led Lewandowski.
Later, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal scored goals. Barcelona crushed Real 4-0. She was flying, dominating and almost scoring further goals – Lewandowski himself hit the post. He was chosen the best player of the match, the Spaniards called him a “wizard”, and just before On the 23rd, Prime Minister Donald Tusk commented on his performance: “This is one of the best performances by a Polish footballer. A nice break from politics” – he wrote on to get an assist. “Pass of the year” – said the journalists of “El Larguero”, despite the lack of a goal.
The next day, a race began in Spain to see who would compliment Lewandowski most accurately and most accurately. Catalan newspapers compared this performance with a memorable match from 2013, in which he scored four goals against Real in the Champions League. They also compared his rebirth to the mythical phoenix, admired his calmness during the first goal and his intuition, which was crucial to score the next one. “Lewandowski is getting younger in Barcelona. He plays as if he had suddenly lost ten years. Lewandowski is one of the keys to Barcelona's resurrection,” wrote the daily “El Espanol”.
Lewandowski – a surreal phenomenon
We at Sport.pl looked at his performance from the Polish perspective, having no doubt that an absolutely historic thing had happened. “These were two important minutes not only for Barcelona and Lewandowski, but for the history of Poland sports at all. How many times have we seen a Pole turn out to be the best in the most popular sport in the world, practiced in almost every country, in almost every neighborhood, in the most important club match? There is no rivalry with a richer history than that of Real Madrid and Barcelona. There is no match in which so many of the best and most talented players are on the pitch at the same time. Mbappe, Vinicius, Bellingham, Yamal, Raphinha, Pedri. And Lewandowski still ended up on the covers of newspapers from all over the world. In a sad football country – with a mediocre league, with a national team that has not been able to reach the best for decades, with clubs that play in the third European league, with a weak middle class among players and without recognized coaches – Lewandowski is a surreal phenomenon,” we wrote.
And I think we hit the nail on the head, looking at the comments under the summary of this match published by Canal Plus, in which there are many confessions of compatriots about their sense of pride. There you can see how much this performance and these two goals meant. “We will remember this Lewandowski match for years, just like with Wolfsburg. Bravo Lewy!”; “The best athlete in the history of Poland, as well as the best Barcelona since Guardiola”; “He's great. Huge respect”; “Left, I'm proud”; “He's amazing! World class!”; “Lewandowski confirms his place on the podium next to Messi and Ronaldo among the greatest football monsters of recent years”; “What was it like? Lewandowski doesn't score in important matches against strong rivals? Well done Robert”; “So much joy in this gray life. Well done Robert, thanks”; “As a Pole, I have always been proud of Lewandowski. Even when he had a bad time, I was still proud that we had such a Polish striker. Viva Robert Lewandowski.”
Match of truth
This match was supposed to tell the truth about Barcelona, and to some extent about Lewandowski himself. She had a great start to the season, demolishing subsequent rivals, and the Pole took advantage and scored more goals, clearly edging out Real Madrid's stars – Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. – in the scoring classification. But until then, the schedule was such that she didn't have the opportunity to fight an opponent of her own weight, so she defeated top league and European average players. Until the last week of October came, when within a few days she had to play first against Bayern Munich, and then against Real. And then all the theses – about how great Barcelona is and how great a coach Flick is – were to gain much more credibility.
But Barcelona did so well that new theses had to be written – even stronger, even more solemn, because in these two matches they scored eight goals and conceded only one. Stronger rivals made her better than ever. In defense, she was close to perfection, catching her opponents offside every now and then, and in attack, she played with imagination and flair. She seemed physically stronger and prepared to play at higher intensity than Real and Bayern, which have excelled in this aspect in recent years.
– I'm happy with the fact that I scored two goals and with the way we played. This is a great victory. We will enjoy it for a few days. This week was amazing. I think we can celebrate for two days. What Hansi Flick does is amazing, not only with me, but with everyone – said Lewandowski himself. – Flick is an amazing coach. There was a radical change in the locker room. He gained respect without having to shout or anything, added Yamal. Barcelona had a six-point advantage over Real after El Clasico, and Lewandowski had an excellent statistic of 14 goals and two assists in just 11 league matches.
Time passes quickly. In football especially
Looking at this match in retrospect does not take away its magic or solemnity at all. We still see it as one of the greatest events in Lewandowski's career. But the few weeks that have passed since that meeting show how quickly time passes in football and how little is needed – because it is enough injury Yamala or a decline in Jules Kounde's form – for the speeding machine to suddenly start creaking. Barcelona no longer runs over its rivals and doesn't organize shooting shows every few days. However, she began to leak in defense – she did not keep a clean sheet in any of the November and December matches. Lewandowski also slowed down a bit – he did not score a goal in the defeat against Real Sociedadhe also missed against Las Palmas (1:2), and against Mallorca he started the match for the first time on the bench and stayed there until the end.
Barcelona is still the leader, but Real is only a point behind with one game played less. And it's not a big crisis. It's just that the last few weeks have humanized Barcelona a bit. She was incredibly good that night at the Bernabeu.