Barcelona kept their great form going with a compelling 3-0 win against Alaves in La Liga. Robert Lewandowski shone with a hat-trick in 31 minutes that allowed the Catalans to have a relaxed second half.
The 36-year-old opened the scoring after seven minutes and not even an early injury to Ferran Torres, who had to be subbed off, had an impact on Hansi Flick’s match plan.
Lewandowski sealed the game with two counter-attacks before half-time. Barcelona will stay two more weeks at the top of La Liga’s table, four points ahead of Real Madrid.
The Athletic’s Pol Ballus analyses the game.
Lewandowski is still a goal machine
New season, same old Robert Lewandowski. The Polish striker was the star in Mendizorrotza, a stadium where Alaves had not lost a game since March this year.
The 36-year-old scored three goals in 31 minutes — the fourth-quickest hat-trick in La Liga’s history. He is also the top goalscorer across the top five leagues with 12 goals in all competitions, overtaking Erling Haaland (11). All this in just 11 games.
The full variety of goals in his armoury were on full display too. He struck first with a subtle header after a set-piece, Raphinha squared to him for a tap-in for the second and he created his own space inside the box to complete his hat-trick with a right-footed finish.
Put it above the fireplace! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6k71tjhIgH
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 6, 2024
Lewandowski is now a player who focuses on what he can do — getting into the box and finding positions to score goals. The flexibility and chemistry with Raphinha, Pedri and Lamine Yamal — his main providers — are a big help too. But in a season where Lewandowski was starting with doubts on his shoulders, he has proved he can still do the job — especially after the manager has built a set-up around him that fits him extremely well.
Flicking a switch
It is astonishing to witness how Hansi Flick has converted players who had their futures in doubt — and that club sources were openly admitting they were listening to offers for — into elite performers.
Lewandowski is one of the clearest examples, with former manager Xavi advocating for trying to sell the Polish striker in favour of bringing in a younger forward. But there is no more blatant case than Raphinha’s.
The 27-year-old has been questioned for the past two summers. He didn’t seem to perform on the right flank at first, and then Lamine Yamal popped up. Now he’s not just been turned into a relentless No 10, but he is putting extraordinary numbers up. The assists for the two first goals had Raphinha’s name on them, taking him to a total of 10 goal contributions this season (six goals, four assists).
Then we can look at Inigo Martinez. Barca’s sporting director Deco had doubts over him, especially given the number of centre-backs at the club. Flick needed two weeks of pre-season training to personally request Martinez to stay, as he saw valuable assets in his leadership and experience. Dressing-room sources, who wish to remain anonymous to protect relationships, highlighted to The Athletic how important he’s become in leading the high defensive line; Alaves registered 11 offsides last night, with two goals disallowed because of it. Barcelona’s only defeat this season came when Martinez was rested in Pamplona last week.
There are also the likes of Marc Casado, who was not given a single chance last season even with the struggles in the holding midfield role — and he’s been faultless this season, or Eric Garcia, who Flick has moved to the No 6 position and confirmed his progress with an assist for Lewandowski’s third goal.
Pena/Szczesny: the debate remains
Barcelona will head into the international break in fine fettle, but nobody expects the coming weeks to be free of doubts around the goalkeeper position.
Wojciech Szczesny did not make the matchday squad, as he still requires more training sessions to get to full fitness. Inaki Pena started again against Alaves and there won’t be any complaints about the final outcome, but there are some lingering doubts that there is still some security lacking with him in goal.
Pena looked a bit shaky when he was needed to clear out Alaves’ crosses; he stuttered on two occasions when he needed to come and collect the ball. He also could have done more to prevent Toni Martinez’s offside goal.
The fixtures will force Hansi Flick to make a decision soon. Straight after the break, Barcelona will host Sevilla, face Bayern Munich in the Champions League, then travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the first Clasico of the season. Is Inaki Pena going to provide all the confidence required to face the highest-stakes games of the season?
There are doubts inside the club. The Sevilla game will surely dictate who is the first-choice goalkeeper in the short term. This will be Flick’s latest challenge.
What did Flick say?
On Lewandowski: “Inside the box, in front of the goal, he is the best player in the world for me. It is fantastic to see him scoring this amount of goals. We can also see that he is injury-free, with no problem at all. But in the end, it is not only about him, all his team-mates also offer great support for him to score”.
Is this Barca the new version of his best Bayern?: “I don’t like to compare this. Different teams, different situations. I am happy to be the coach of this squad, at the moment it feels very good, but I also know that in football things can change really quickly. I appreciate the compliments now, we work and go step by step every match. That’s how we want to work”.
Robert Lewandowski, to broadcasters DAZN after the game: “We did exactly what we planned after the game. This is a great win and we will come back stronger after the break
“A lot of things have changed. In general, we worked very hard in pre-season already and we have an amazing group. With these players, I feel we can get even better after a lot of things that were missed last season now are in a better place”.
(Photo: Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images)
