Robert Lewandowski will join the list of FC Barcelona centenarians next Sunday, September 15, in the match against Girona. In his first 100 matches wearing the Barça shirt, the Pole has accumulated the staggering figure of 63 goals, an average that places him among the greatest 'killers' in the history of the Catalan club. In fact, the striker surpasses several legends of the entity, whose numbers are behind those registered by the scorer.
And, for example, Lionel Messi scored 41 goals in his first 100 games as a player for the Barça first team, while Ronaldinho reached 44 goals. These records are somewhat far from those achieved by Neymar (57) or Rivaldo (57), whose aim in front of goal was better before reaching their hundredth as players of the Blaugrana squad.
However, Robert Lewandowski was outdone by Luis Suárez, whose numbers in his first 100 games in Barcelona are absolutely outrageous. The Uruguayan striker, who is in the twilight of his career after retiring from the Uruguayan national team and is spending his last cartridges at Inter Miami alongside Messi, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba...
scored 88 goals in his first 100 games as a Barça player
... a figure even more surprising if you take into account the fact that he didn't find the goal in the first 13 games he played.
The difference between Messi and Lewandowski is conditioned
Despite the fact that 'Lewy' has scored 22 more goals than Messi in his centenary as a culé, the reality is that the comparison between both footballers is conditioned by the context. The Argentine, in addition to starting out playing only the remaining minutes (he did not string together two full matches until his 36th and 37th game), did not line up as a '9' (or false '9') until 2009, when Pep Guardiola decided to try him in this position in the 2-6 Clasico. For his part, the Pole landed at the club as a consolidated 'killer', which puts more value on what the Rosario native has achieved.
Lewandowski also surpassed two other Brazilian legends
On the other hand, Robert's numbers also surpassed those of two legends such as Romário and Ronaldo, whose performance was punished by physical problems. The former played 65 games and scored 39 goals in a season and a half, while 'O fenômeno' celebrated 47 goals in 49 duels. As things stand, Lewandowski continues to forge his way into the golden books of the Barcelona institution.