The agony team found a rescuer who had been collapsed for weeks. The suffering team found a savior in their center forward, who ended their drought at the moment when everything seemed to be going down. Robert Lewandowski shouted present after 389 minutes without scoring the opponent's goal. Since September 23, it has been dry as hell. There was nothing to indicate that his dynamic was going to change, lost, slow in reflexes and without balls in a wasteful first half. But then Koundé crossed a ball and Lewandowski remembered that his job is to be the hunter of the area. He rose majestically as if he were a rugby player in a touche. The turn of his neck to head and pocket was beautiful, a flash among so much mediocrity, a classic painting among so much incomprehensible modernity. High block, low block, square, base of the square and other variable geometries that complicate soccer.
In the midst of all this, Lewandowski, not Barça, returned to his essence, that of watching a lateral cross fly and going for it as if there were no tomorrow to beat defender Rafa Marín. He will no longer be a fast player, at 35 years old. He will have already lost flexibility and danger in the open field. But what was not normal is that he was not even functioning in the area and that he had played two games, in San Sebastián and in Hamburg, without even having a shot on goal. This time yes. When he tied, he turned to his teammates, as if telling them: “You see, you have to send me balls.” He also addressed Xavi and had him appeal for the respectable to encourage more.
The job was not completed and when Ferran Torres was awarded a penalty he did not hesitate to take responsibility. There is a reason why he is the cornerstone of Laporta's project, the flagship signing. His way of transforming maximum penalties would not be very academic, and, in fact, it makes more than one person's heart rate rise. But with that save a rock point surpassed the Alavés goalkeeper, as he already did in Pamplona.
In his last scoring appearance, the Pole had scored two goals to contribute decisively to Barça's comeback against a team from the bottom zone, like Celta. Almost two months later the same thing happened. A double from Lewandowski for the champion to defeat another modest. The forward has accumulated eight goals this season, seven in the League.
Numbers that are far from those of his best days but that, without real competition in the squad, still make him essential in the current circumstances.
And even more so within a team that struggles with God and helps to function fluidly and move the games forward. That's why he received praise from Xavi Hernández, for whom the attacker's goals brought obvious relief. “Robert is always there, he has personality, he has leadership and he makes many differences. He is not affected by criticism. You have to see what a great goal he scored with his head and then he takes responsibility for the penalty. I am very happy for him, for him to regain his confidence, and also because he helps the team. Whether he scores goals or not, he always works hard,” the Blaugrana coach said about Lewandowski.
But better, for your interests, that you mark. Because when the number 9 doesn't do it, Barça has it much more difficult.
