Lewandowski demands change at Barcelona

Robin Bairner

• 17 Mar 2023 14:14 GMT
• 5 min read

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has indicated that he wants to see changes at Camp Nou to make the team more competitive.

Lewandowski arrived at Barcelona last summer in a blockbuster €45 million deal from Bayern Munich and has continued the prolific scoring form he showed in the Bundesliga by netting 15 goals so far in his debut season in La Liga and 25 overall.

It promises to be a successful campaign for the Catalans domestically as they boast a nine-point advantage over second-placed Real Madrid in the Primera Division ahead of Sunday’s Clasico, which would effectively seal the title if the Blaugrana were to win. They also won the Super Copa and lead Los Blancos 1-0 after the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final.

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Nevertheless, the 34-year-old, who is under contract until 2026, wants Barca to evolve ahead of the 2023/24 campaign.

He told EPSN: “We have a good team. Maybe a change or two would make it stronger, not perfect, but more competitive. We sometimes talk about small things, but if you change these the team will be even more spectacular.”

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’Barcelona can’t compete for the Champions League’ – Lewandowski

In particular, Lewandowski pointed to Barcelona’s problems in the Champions League, in which they were dumped out of the group stage of the second successive season before losing to Manchester United in the Europa League.

“This season we had problems in the Champions League and that is what we must correct,” he said.

“We are not ready to fight at the highest level for the three titles: Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey.

“In football it's impossible to change something in a week or a month, it takes time.

“I always wanted to play in LaLiga. You know Barcelona have a lot of problems. But when I saw the path they wanted to take, I said: 'I can be a part of this.'

“I saw the challenge and told myself that I was ready to take it on. I may be 34 years old but it's just a number and I know I can play for several more years at the highest level, I don't know exactly how many, but I've always been happy to play. I care more about mental things than physical ones.”

Barcelona’s challenge in the summer will be meeting Lewandowski’s demand to improve the squad while also making significant cutbacks due to Financial Fair Play (FFP) constraints.