9 - Robert Lewandowski

[Blackened]

BBZ is right. Lewa is good but comparing him to CR (let alone Leo) is about as absurd as it gets. Someone like Carsten Jancker is a good comparison to Lewa.

 

[El Gato]

Someone like Carsten Jancker is a good comparison to Lewa.

lmao talk about absurd takes
Lewy has almost double in goals what Jancker has in appearances

 

[Rassvet]

Lewa critics changed their narrative fast. Before the season, it was "Bundesliga is a joke. We'll see what he's made of in La Liga."

Now he's had a great start in La Liga and they're trying to bury him over one group stage match where he was admittedly very poor in front of goal but at least was getting into the right positions and on the end of chances.

 

[KingLeo10]

Lewa PR merchants like Rass trying to diffuse from yet another big CL match where Lewa underperformed.

Where are those stats of "44 CL goals in last 35 games", ya bum

 

[BBZ8800]

I agree with you, we aren't there yet. However, we are far better than we were last season so the progress is visible and that's great. In contrast, the thing that worries me the most is mental state of our team. After few years of heavy loses in CL games we'll need time to regain our wining mentality. When we conceded the first goal our team went in a mental knockdown for 10 minutes. As a consequence we conceded that second goal. Something similar happened to us many times during the last couple of seasons in CL games. Furthermore, all that missed chances came from the lack of calmness. Therefore to be able to win anything we first need improve our mentality in big games. If there is something to learn from Madrid this is the thing. They for sure wouldn't be shocked with Bayern's first goal and wouldn't miss all of those chances. IMHO this is the biggest problem we currently have and probably the hardest one to solve.

Imo, after watching NT and CL for 30, years, these are the most common patterns of winning teams:

1) either you have a team which is miles ahead in quality compared to the rest, let's say Brazil 2002 or Barca during Pep.
Or Spain 2008-2012'

2) the other pattern is step by step: being let's say 3rd for years, then buying a key player and moving to a place no1.
For, example Croatia at Euro 96 was strong but lost to Germany. And that was a lesson for the whole team.
Two years later they improved and ended 3rd on Wc 1998.
Or Barca 2005, maybe the best team in Europe with Ronnie and Etoo, but lacked the final ingredient.
Next season, with more wisdom, Larsson and Van Bommel, they made the final step.

3) the third way is when you are among top5 teams all the time, like Bayern, and then it is a number's game, and you just need to win it here and there.

4) luck, like Chelsea, Portugal, Greece

Now, about the current Barca, I don't see any of these patterns, except maybe luck.

Regarding a no1: we don't have a team which is miles better than the rest.
Dembele is still hot and cold.
Lewa is semi retired, Raph is an unknown.
Pedri and Gavi are hot and cold and too young.
The rest of the team is meh for CL winning standards.

No2) step by step way: we aren't there. We are horrible for years.
Even though this year we are way better than the last, it is not too hard since our recent history was 8:2 and being one of 3-4 top teams in the last 15 years to not progress from a group stage.

3) no3: being on top all the time = we aren't there. There are City, Real, Liverpool, Bayern.

Maybe I am too old and too pessimistic, but I don't see that "magic" or "x-factor" in our team what our historic teams had, or what any normal CL winner except Chelsea had.

We still aren't convincing.
Besides Lewa, there isn't star power in our team. There is no Ronnie, Etoo, Messi, Neymar.
Even though our fans are high on Pedri and Gavi, I still can't put them in the same sentence with Deco-Xavi-Iniesta and our former midfields.
Someone might reply: but you don't need to have Ronaldinho, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta to win it.
But the fact is = we do.
Our way of football is specific and we almost never win by luck or with average teams.
We can win it only (and even then we struggle) with world class technical midfield and either the best playmaker out there (Ronaldinho or Messi) or even with the best playmaker and the best attacking trio.

We still don't have leaders, playmaker, magicians, out of this world midfield.
This is an ok team.
Better than the team from the last 3-4 years, but nothing more than that.

Also, imagine an injury to Lewa and Pedri and we are back to Uefa cup level.

 

[Horatio]

I don't understand why people keep moving goalpost. We have a handful of new players we have a midfield partially run by teenagers and we still have to find quality for a position or two. We are not there yet. It's possible to win CL with this squad but it is going to involve a good chunk of luck. Curb your expectations.

I am still trying to focus on progress.

 

[jamrock]

I don't think any rational Barcelona fan expects us to win the CL, as I've heard many correctly say, We only ever win the CL when we are clearly the best team in it, there is no Real Madrid magically run, where we should have lost but end up winning in the end, if anything with us it's the opposite.

So no rational fan is or should be moving the goal post, the expectation is & should be, win the league, maybe the Copa and at least the QF in the champions league with us going out like men.

All that doesn't change the fact that lewa feels the pressure if "big" games more than most top strikers though.

 

[KingLeo10]

I'm not demanding CL from Lewa. I wouldn't even ask that for prime Messi by himself lol. One player can't win this competition, unless really favorable with draws/lucky.

But all I'm saying is people are eager to throw Lewa's CL stats in our face, and how he's in a league of his own compared to other great strikers there...in that case, it's fair to demand him to be clinical in big games, is it not? It's only 1 game. I'm not saying this game defined Lewa's legacy or anything crazy. Just he deserves criticism and not blame deflection.

 

[Horatio]

No was not aimed at your post. I said yesterday it is valid to criticize Lewa him for that performance. BBZ triggered me to write what I wrote. I still notice a general tendency for doom and gloom and forget where we are coming from only two years ago.

Maybe should have picked another thread to make my comment.

 

[Messigician]

Team Sucks

 

[Respekt_III]

Not about winning champions league, this is about not even being able to beat a Subpar bayern team. Same shit different day, mental block still there.

 

[feggydinho]

BBZ is right. Lewa is good but comparing him to CR (let alone Leo) is about as absurd as it gets. Someone like Carsten Jancker is a good comparison to Lewa.

He had an off day yesterday in Barca and that has happened to the likes of Messi and Cr7 as well if we're being honest, though there's the discussion of Lewa choking in big games in Bayern also but let's just give him a chance here

We would've probably won the tie if he took his chances, and his passing was also not up to standard so he still deserves some backlash like any other player, and more would come if he chokes in more important games so it's up to him

 

[feggydinho]

I don't understand why people keep moving goalpost. We have a handful of new players we have a midfield partially run by teenagers and we still have to find quality for a position or two. We are not there yet. It's possible to win CL with this squad but it is going to involve a good chunk of luck. Curb your expectations.

I am still trying to focus on progress.

Lol, those teenagers now dominate midfields so that won't be an excuse very soon.

 

[CatalinR10]

Even with a 2-1 loss or a draw , the return game at home would have been really promising for beating them with a bigger margin and finishing the group on first place , if the rest of games go as planned , and get a good draw next.


I mean the game wasn't a single KO game for the pressure to be really really high , so if he chokes under pressure in these type of games what will we do if we finish 2nd and get a really good opponent in the KO stages ?



Hopefully he gets his shit right.

 

[Blackened]

You guys are forgetting one not so small detail from the defeat and the aftermath... Internazionale. They are hardly pushovers. Yes, Barca are the favourites but not by that much.