News about Robert Lewandowski

Barcelona are set to refresh their squad in the summer after an underwhelming season in which they are poised to finish a distant second to Real Madrid. heir wage cap has been set at £174.4m by LaLiga - a colossal reduction on the £553.9m they were permitted to spend in February 2023. They will need to shift players and while Lewandowski is one of the world's best strikers, his form this season has not justified his enormous wages.

Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski has named the leading contenders for the Ballon d'Or, amid rumours he could belatedly be awarded the 2020 prize. Lewandowski was viewed as the clear favourite in 2020, only for organisers to cancel the award due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Poland superstar finished as the runner-up the following year to Lionel Messi.

Elsewhere in La Liga on Matchday 33 Carlo Ancelotti made nine changes ahead of tonight's meeting with Bayern Munich and still won against a lukewarm Real Sociedad. Racism reared its ugly head inside Spanish stadiums, this time in Atletico Madrid 's Metropolitano. And Dovbyk and Sorloth were superb in front of goal once more. Here,  Mail Sport's Spanish football reporter PETE JENSON casts his eye over the weekend's action and offers 10 things he learned.

The Barca boss had said he would step down at the end of the season, describing the top job at his beloved club as 'cruel' and 'unpleasant' following a 5-3 capitulation to Villarreal. An 11-game unbeaten run followed and Xavi feels energised to at least see out his contract until the end of next season. There is little doubt that Barcelona are playing better football and look a more united team.

PETE JENSON: Barcelona won an error-strewn chaotic six-goal affair against Valencia courtesy of a Robert Lewandowski hat-trick, and it moves them back to second in La Liga. It was also the perfect way to celebrate Xavi's famous 'un-quitting' last week. The Olympic stadium was singing his name at the end of the match as Lewandowski walked off with match ball. The team went 10 games unbeaten after the coach said he would leave at the end of the season back in January - would his announcement last week that he was now staying bring about the reverse effect? For a while it looked as if it would but having gone 2-1 up Valencia had their goalkeeper sent off and a Robert Lewandowski double made sure the home side won the game 3-2.

PETE JENSON: Harry Kane was on the road to nowhere at Bayern Munich just a few weeks ago as the star of club sponsor Audi's latest advertising spot. 'Harry, you know Umleitung isn't a place right?' passenger Thomas Muller says in the commercial. He is sat next to Kane who is driving, struggling with the Munich roads, and following signs for Umleitung because it sounds like a nice place, unaware it means detour in German. Kane joining Bayern Munich just before their run of 11 straight Bundesliga titles came to an end also felt like him having taken a wrong turn. But if he ends the season with a Champions League final at Wembley, year one will have been a success.

Lionel Messi. Andres Iniesta. Robert Lewandowski. The rich list of world-class players Pep Guardiola had coached before joining Manchester City was simply astounding. And yet, three years after penning his move to the Etihad, Guardiola shocked world football with a claim that Phil Foden - then, a teenager who had yet to break into City's regular starting XI - was the most talented player he had ever witnessed. 'The most talented player I've ever seen,' Guardiola said of Foden in 2019. 'His only problem is sometimes his manager doesn't put him in the starting XI. Hopefully in the future that can improve.'

Once the club football season ends, there is just the small matter of a European Championship for football fans to get their teeth in to. The tournament will get underway when hosts Germany take on Scotland on Friday, June 14. And one of the highlights, usually, for those watching is seeing the new kits that their nation will turn out in.

PETER JENSON: It's Xavi's last stand on Sunday - his final El Clasico in charge of Barcelona. And things can go one of only two ways as his side travel to the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid go into Sunday's game having had a day's less recovery time after 120 minutes of defending against Manchester City. They still have difficult away games at Real Sociedad and Villarreal, plus the distraction of the Champions League semi-finals.

L'Equipe hailed Kylian Mbappe for making Barcelona 'his garden' as Paris Saint-Germain completed a stunning comeback to reach the Champions League semi-finals. Mbappe was one of five PSG players earning an 8 out of 10 rating after scoring his side's third and fourth goal as the Ligue 1 champions set up a semi-final showdown against Borussia Dortmund.  'He was expected to be the saviour and he finally was,' L'Equipe wrote, noting Barcelona was now 'his garden' after the France star scored a hat-trick at the Camp Nou in the first leg of the Round of 16 three years ago. 

Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski have both been amongst the goals for their teams this season and with PSG facing Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals on Tuesday, the odds of both doing so again have been boosted by Sky Bet.  Mbappe and Lewandowski are the top scorers this season for their respective teams, with the former netting a stunning 39 times for PSG and the latter 20 across all four competitions for the Blaugrana. Barcelona are 3-2 up in the tie having won in the French capital against Mbappe's side, with Raphinha and Andreas Christensen getting the goals for Xavi's Catalan giants. 

Barcelona boss Xavi could be persuaded to stay at Barcelona if two conditions are met, according to a report. The 44-year-old revealed in January that he would walk away from the club after two and a half years in charge following a difficult spell. He said at the time his decision would free up his players, and they will head into their LaLiga clash with lowly Cadiz on a 12-game unbeaten run in all competitions.

Barcelona are the narrow underdogs to prevail in their Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain. The Spanish giants have not reached the last four of the competition since Liverpool famously overcame a 3-0 deficit to win 4-0 at Anfield in 2019. Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain will fancy their chances of reaching this year's final, having been placed on the opposite side of the draw to Manchester City, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Bayern Munich.

The Champions League is in the business end of the competition and Wednesday night brings a massive quarter-final first-leg tie involving Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona. Memories of matches between the two sides instantly hark back to La Remontoda - where Barcelona overcame a 4-0 deficit to win the tie 6-5 at the Nou Camp during the 2016-17 season.  Goals could be plenty between the sides once again this season, especially when the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Robert Lewandowski are involved.

The latest international break may be over, but the narratives and discussions surrounding various national teams are only likely to rise in the run-up to Euro 2024. The 24 teams that will be competing in Germany this summer have been confirmed at the conclusion of Tuesday's play-off finals. Among the bookies' favorites to win the tournament are France, England, Germany, and Portugal, which will begin in Munich on June 14th.

TOM COLLOMOSSE AT CARDIFF CITY STADIUM: Footballers are a superstitious bunch, which is why Wales defender Connor Roberts seems to be based on cult Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes. Hughes was best known for his handlebar moustache as he was for peppering anti-batsmen with short-pitched deliveries, and Roberts seems to be on the same course as Hughes, although he has no way to measure Hughes' efforts. I believe it has played about 25 Championship games and never lost,' he said, 'I hope that continues.' 'It's the power of the 'tache isn't it? I keep asking my wife if I should shave it off, but she loves it so much that I'm leaving it there.'

After the final three teams secured their spots in this summer's tournament in Germany via the play-offs tonight, we now have our complete lineup for Euro 2024. Wales' hopes came to an end when they lost on penalties in Cardiff, where Georgia also crashed out Greece thanks to spot-kicks, and Ukraine came from behind to defeat Iceland 2-1. England secured their position in a minimal fuss by winning their qualifying group, and is considered one of the favorites to bring an end to the 58-year wait for a major trophy.

Wales is marginally favourites to advance to their Euro 2024 play-off match against Poland at Cardiff City Stadium tonight. Rob Page's team are marginal outsiders at 15/8 to upset the applecart in enemy territory at the time of writing, with 13/8 to win the tie on home soil and book their place in Germany. Both nations impressed in their last Euro 2024 qualifiers last week, with Wales defeating Finland 4-1 and Poland thumping Estonia 5-1.

IAN HERBERT: As has become the tradition on these major occasions, they've been rolling out the Welsh emperors in Cardiff. In Tuesday's play-off final, Rhys Ifans, the actor, has taken over from Michael Sheen, the tournament's drive, giving the Welsh team some energy. However, no gloss can mask the true problem. Though Wales goes on without their own once-in-a-generation genius, Poland is still holding on to their traditions. Robert Lewandowski has scored 82 goals for Poland, a record broken only by Romelu Lukaku, Ferenc Puskas, and Cristiano Ronaldo, and the last tournament is approaching.

TOM COLLOMOSSE AT CARDIFF CITY STADIUM: As Wales moved within 90 minutes of a spot at Euro 2024 by sweeping aside Finland, Brash Rob Page sent Robert Lewandowski and Poland a defiant message. For the third straight tournament, Lewandowski's men face Wales and qualification, while Page is full of hope. 'Bring it on,' Page says. I can't wait for Tuesday.' What more motivation do we need than to be one win away from another major tournament? The boys will be set.

The Euro 2024 play-offs and international friendlies, some of world football's most exciting players, will be playing today. As part of their Player Stat Accas market, Sky Bet is also offering a Price Boost. Alexander Isak, Robert Lewandowski, and Brennan Johnson all have double or more shots on target, up from 16/1 on Sunday.

Robert Lewandowski has given fans an insight into how he prepares for a game by posting his pre-match playlist. Lewandowski has established himself as one of the best strikers in the country, winning twice on FIFA's The Greatest Prize and scoring a grand total of 562 goals in 761 club appearances in his career. After joining from Bavarian titans Bayern Munich, he now works in Spain, winning LaLiga and the Golden Boot in his first season.

PETE JENSON: Barcelona's incredible revival after Xavi announced that he was leaving early this season continued apace with a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone's side had only lost two points a home all season and were on a high after their epic victory over Inter Milan on Wednesday night, but the second half was a tumultuous and confused mess as they tried and failed to respond to Joao Felix's opening goal. Barcelona took the lead on 38 minutes, but it had to be him who had scored it. The Portuguese forward has been contracted to Atletico until 2029, but will never be welcomed back. Every touch was whistled both before and after he calmly converted from Robert Lewandowski's brilliant cross after a burst run from Ilkay Gundogan.

After losing 3-1 to Napoli, departing Barcelona manager Xavi has lauded his staff's recent poor form, blasted 'unfair criticism' of the Blaugrana's latest poor form. Fermin Lopez, Joao Cancelo, and Robert Lewandowski all scored, assisting the Blaugrana in a 4-2 victory on aggregate against the Italian club in the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday night. It's a big win for the Catalan outfit in the aftermath of losing to Athletic Club and now falling off the pace of fierce rivals, Real Madrid, in the LaLiga championship race.