How does Lewandowski compare with Lionel Messi at Barcelona with his current form?

How does Lewandowski compare with Lionel Messi at Barcelona with his current form?

Barcelona looks to have found an answer to its attacking woes in Poland captain Robert Lewandowski, who has shown no signs of stopping this season so far.

Against Rayo Vallecano, he converted a penalty to scrape out a 1-0 win and help Barca return to the top of the league standings, with 51 points from 24 matches so far. It was his 20th goal of the season, which is just one short of his best season at the Catalan side.

“It was hard work for the players and at the end we are happy,” Barcelona’s coach Hansi Flick said after the game. “Everyone is happy about our new position. I think we played very well, although I think we can do better.”

Only three players have emulated his record — of 20 goals in the first 23 games of La Liga — in the last 15 years at the club – Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Samuel Eto’o.

The last time a player scored 20 goals in the first 23 league games was Messi, the club’s record goalscorer, in the 2019-20 season. The Argentine went on to score 31 goals and assisted 27 more in all competitions this season.

Though Lewandowski did reach the milestone this season, he remains quite far from Messi’s tally and consistency at the club. The 2022 World Cup winner not only struck 20 goals in the first 23 league games in the 2019-20 season but did so in the 11 seasons before that, consecutively.

Suarez comes second in that tally, having reached that milestone thrice, between 2016 and 2018. Meanwhile, Eto’o reached that tally once in the 2008-09 season.

Published on Feb 19, 2025