How many goals has Lewandowski scored for Barcelona?
The Polish striker hit a hat-trick against Viktoria Plzen and has scored eight goals in his first five games, a flying start unmatched in recent times at Camp Nou.
Barcelona’s victory over Viktoria Plzen on the opening day of the 2022-23 Champions provided further proof of the harmony that Xavi Hernández has managed to instill in his team, which has started the season in superb form, largely due to the continued brilliance of former Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
The Polish striker is displaying the same hunger for scoring records in Barcelona as he showed at Bayern Munich. His hat-trick against the Czech side made him the first player to bag a treble with three different teams in the Champions League. In his first five games for Barcelona, the two-time winner of the European Golden Shoe has already found the net eight times, a tally that has not been seen in Barcelona at this stage of a campaign for almost a century.
Lewandowski up there with Gamper and Paulinho
As pointed out by Catalonia radio, Lewandowski’s figures are so unusual that you have to go back to the very foundation years of the club to find similar numbers. In 1938, Hans-Max Gamper only needed three games to reach eight goals. Before him, Paulinho Alcantará also scored the same number in five (1913).
In recent times, Ronaldo Nazario has got the closest to achieving the same record, the Brazilian great scoring his eighth goal in his seventh game as a Blaugrana. Romário took a little longer than his compatriot, requiring 10 games to reach eight goals. Other legendary goalscorers needed even longer: Samuel Eto’o required 13 games, while Luis Suárez, one of the highest scorers in Barça’s history, didn’t reach eight until his 24th appearance. The Uruguayan, the club’s all-time third-top scorer, failed to find the net at all in his first five games.