FC Barcelona is ‘a beast’ once again, scoring goals from all directions and with some flair. Poland International Robert Lewandowski is at the centre of this ‘rout’ and has found his scoring touch back under new manager Hanski Flick. The star already has 19 goals in just 16 matches played in La Liga and UEFA Champions League, nearly surpassing his best season with Barca in 1/3rd of the games. Talking about his UEFA Champions League 2024-25 form, the 36-year-old striker has played in all four matches and scored five goals including his brace during Crvena Zvezda vs Barcelona match. This takes his Champions League goals tally to 99, closing in on Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s impressive feat. Pau Cubarsi Receives 10 Stitches on Face After Being Kicked by Opponent During Crvena Zvezda vs Barcelona UEFA Champions League 2024-25 Match (See Pics).

Over the 32 years of Champions League history, only two players – Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have scored more than 100 goals in the elite European competition. Ronaldo reached the milestone first in April 2017 in his 143rd appearance, while Lionel Messi took 122 games for the 100-goal mark and did so in September 2017. Many prolific strikers were taunted to breach the 100-goal mark but none succeeded. Right now, only Robert Lewandowski has a realistic chance of making it into the 100 Champions League goals club.

Robert Lewandowski – True Scorer for FC Barcelona

La Liga giants FC Barcelona is known for its ‘tiki-taka’ football gameplay and also relies on a ‘finisher’ of top quality to ‘justify’ their swift moves. Robert Lewandowski joined the side as a ‘target man’ but couldn’t perform under Xavi’s tactical plays. Reuniting with the former Bayern Munich coach – Hansi Flick, Lewandowski is aware of what is expected of him and is delivering the same at the age of 36.  Barcelona’s Attack Keeps Clicking and Catalan Club Earns Another Big Win in UEFA Champions League 2024–25.

Playing with many quality sides like Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and now Barcelona, Lewi has now scored 99 goals in the UEFA Champions League – 69 of them during his time with Bayern Munich. And now he is just one goal away from joining Cristiano Ronaldo (140) and Lionel Messi (129) as the only players to reach 100 goals in European Cup/Champions League history.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 07, 2024 04:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).