If Lewandowski doesn't fine the net, Barcelona don't win the game
The Polish striker has scored almost half of Barça's 23 goals this season
Without Robert Lewandowski's goals, there is no paradise for Barcelona. That has become clear in the wins, such as the 3-0 victory over Elche at the weekend in which he scored twice, but also in the setbacks. Barça have won six of their eight games this season but when the Polish striker hasn't found the net, they haven't either: drawing with Rayo Vallecano and losing to Bayern Munich.
Lewandowski's acclimatised to Barça spectacularly, scoring 11 goals in eight games (one every 78 minutes). He has shown that he is not just a goal scorer but a complete player, too. Xavi Hernandez has had no problems fitting him into his tactical system.
Despite joining preseason late, Lewandowski has connected well with Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha, becoming the team's leader in attack and a reference point in general.
The results are obvious: Barcelona are competitive again, despite being in reconstruction, and are keeping pace with Madrid and played well against Bayern in the Champions League despite losing. However, the team is also showing some dependence on Lewandowski's prowess in front of goal. The next top scorers in the team are Dembele and Ansu Fati, with two each.
A quick look at the eight games played so far confirms that trend. Barça drew 0-0 with Rayo and lost 2-0 to Bayern, the only two games when Lewandowski did not score. And when he couldn't find the breakthrough, no one else was able to step up, either.
In contrast, Lewandowski has scored in the games against Real Sociedad (1-4), Valladolid (4-0), Sevilla (0-3), Viktoria Plzen (5-1), Cádiz (0-4) and Elche (3-0).
Lewy in form
Barça have had some big wins and 11 of their 23 goals have come from Lewandowski, almost half. In fact, it's proving to be Lewandowski's best season, too, so far
He is averaging 1.38 goals per game after eight outings, while in his last three seasons with Bayern -- his best in terms of scoring -- he averaged 1.17 (55 goals in 47 games in 2019/20), 1.2 (48 goals in 40 games in 2020/21) and 1.09 (50 goals in 46 games in 2021/22).
