Robert Lewandowski races past 20 La Liga goals, breaks records
What's the story
Robert Lewandowski scored a brilliant brace in Barcelona's 4-2 win over rivals Espanyol in the La Liga. This win also meant that the Blaugrana have secured their 27th La Liga title. It was a historic night for the club and also for Lewandowski for plenty of reasons. Apart from him, Alejandro Balde and Jules Kounde scored the other two goals. Here's more.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Lewandowski is easily one of the most high-profile players of this generation. His hunger to score goals for his respective teams makes him a special player. The Polish superstar joined Barcelona this season and has flourished for them as well. He has scored 20-plus goals in eight successive seasons and also in 11 out of his 13 seasons in Europe's top five leagues.
Goals
Breaking down his league goals across last eight seasons
Lewandowski's last eight seasons have been exceptional for Bayern Munich and Barcelona. It started in 2015-16 when he slammed 30 goals in the Bundesliga. He scored 30 goals in 2016-17, 29 in 2017-18, 22 in 2018-19, 34 in 2019-20, 41 in 2020-21, and 35 in 2021-22. He has scored 21 goals for Barcelona this season in La Liga with four matches to go.
Record
Joint-third fastest to 20 La Liga goals in 21st century
It took Lewandowski 30 league games to complete the feat as he became the joint-third-fastest to reach 20 goals. He is tied with Julio Baptista in this regard. In the 21st century, only Cristiano Ronaldo (24 games) and Radamel Falcao (26 games) were faster than the 34-year-old. He also became the first player in the league this season to complete 20 goals.
Feats
Lewandowski attains these records
Lewandowski has netted 31 goals this season along with providing seven assists across all competitions. As per Squawka, he became the first Barcelona player to score 30 goals across all competitions in his debut season since Ronaldo de Lima in 1996-97. He also became the first Barcelona player to score two first-half goals against Espanyol in an away game since Patrick Kluivert in 2003.
Stats
A look at Lewandowski's numbers this season
The 34-year-old has netted 21 goals in La Liga in 30 appearances and leads the goalscoring charts. He has also provided six assists. Lewandowski scored five goals in the UEFA Champions League in as many games, whereas he scored once in two Europa League clashes. Two goals each have come in the Copa del Rey and the Supercopa, with an assist in the latter.
Trophies
Here are Lewandowski's career accolades
Lewandowski won everything in Poland with Lech Poznan. In Germany, he won 10 Bundesliga titles (8x Bayern, 2x Dortmund). He bagged four German Cup titles (3x Bayern, 1x Dortmund). He won the Champions League in 2019-20. He has mustered six German Super Cup titles alongside the Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup. Lewandowski has now bagged La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup.