- The Barcelona forward faced scathing criticism after Sunday’s defeat
- Robert Lewandowski missed several big chances in the shock home loss in LaLiga
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Spanish media branded Robert Lewandowski an ‘unrecognizable’ figure after Barcelona made a mistake in Sunday’s shock defeat to Leganes in the title race.
Hansi Flick was furious on the sidelines as his side stumbled for the second league match in a row, with Atletico Madrid level on points and rivals Real Madrid now just one point behind.
Leganes arrived at Camp Nou in the hunt for points that would put valuable distance between themselves and the relegation zone, but admittedly did not expect to walk away with a win.
Sergio Gonzales gave the visitors a shock lead after just four minutes, but many expected Barcelona to hit back with so much time left in the match. That didn’t happen, and Leganes left after dealing a damaging blow to the Catalan club’s title hopes.
Barcelona tested Leganes goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic just four times during the match and were largely released as Lewandowski proved lame in front of goal before being substituted.
The Polish superstar is LaLiga’s top scorer with 16 goals in the Spanish top flight this season, but has scored just once in his last four appearances and was once again ineffective against Leganes.
Spanish media branded Robert Lewandowski an ‘unrecognizable’ figure after Barcelona made a mistake in the title race
Lewandowski missed several chances in front of goal during the 1-0 defeat to Leganes
Barcelona’s players were criticized by the Spanish media as their winless streak continued
Lewandowski had chances to put Barcelona back level and then take the lead on Sunday, but was uncharacteristically wasteful and was eventually hooked by Flick in the 66th minute.
Spanish publication Marca slammed the 36-year-old’s performance against the LaLiga minnows, saying afterwards: ‘It’s unrecognisable. It’s hard to believe what’s happening to the Pole.
‘Once again he went to the bench early with 25 minutes to go. Nothing to object to. The Pole missed against Leganes, very clear chances that did not befit the top scorer of the competition,” they added.
However, it wasn’t just Lewandowski who found himself in the line of fire as Barcelona slid to a fourth league defeat of the season – more than any other team in the top five – with even more brutal criticism slamming the team’s all-round performance.
Frenkie de Jong’s decline in form came under particular scrutiny as the former Manchester United goalkeeper was left on the bench after starting just one league match all season.
“Lewandowski has disappeared in recent games, Raphinha is trying, Olmo too… but they didn’t go further than that,” Marca said scathingly.
‘Ferran [Torres] this time it wasn’t disgusting like in the previous matches; Gavi offers strength and that’s it and Frenkie de Jong didn’t even play.
Barcelona’s Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong was branded a ‘big mystery’ after failing to appear
Relegation-threatened Leganes recorded a shock 1-0 victory at Camp Nou
‘The Dutchman is becoming the big mystery of this team. Barça does not respond and starts to draw for the lead.
‘Atletico Madrid are already equal on points. An inexplicable drama,” the publication said.
Meanwhile, Barcelona will be able to relax in the knowledge that they will avoid the Champions League play-offs from reaching the automatic knockout places in the league stage.
But a top-flight match against title challengers Atletico Madrid next weekend could prove huge in the LaLiga race.