TNT Sports pundit Rory Smith has said it is not impossible for Barcelona ace Robert Lewandowski to surpass the great Lionel Messi’s Champions League goal tally. Smith acknowledges that Lewandowski is on the wrong side of 30, but he has plenty of faith in the Polish striker’s ability to find the netting with unreal consistency.
Robert Lewandowski Adds to His Tally in Barcelona’s Win Over Red Star Belgrade
Barcelona hit the road to take on Red Star Belgrade on Matchday 4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season. Inigo Martinez fired Barca into the lead in the 13th minute, but Silas Mvumpa restored parity for the hosts in the 27th minute. The underdogs were doing pretty decently to keep the Blaugrana at bay, but Lewandowski poured cold water on their efforts just a couple of minutes before halftime.
The Pole showed pure striker’s intuition to attack the box as Raphinha went for goal. The Brazilian’s strike hit the post and came straight to Lewandowski, allowing him to poke it in. Eight minutes into the second half, Lewandowski doubled his money, tapping in Jules Kounde’s cut back from close range.
Raphinha (55′) and Fermin Lopez (76′) also found the back of the net as Barca cruised to a 5-2 victory.
Pundit Says Robert Lewandowski Could Catch Lionel Messi
The brace against Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday (November 6) took Lewandowski’s Champions League tally to 99 goals. He now sits 30 goals shy of Messi, who is in second place in all-time rankings, with Cristiano Ronaldo leading at 140 goals.
Smith believes Lewandowski still has a lot of soccer left in him and is capable of surpassing Messi’s record.
He said (via Eurosport):
“It’s not impossible that he catches Messi. 30 more goals. Two more years. 15 a season.
“He’s quite old, but he famously eats his pudding before his main course. He’ll be going But also, he’s going to have eight games per season to do it in, at least. So it’s not impossible.”
Lewandowski has played just 124 Champions League matches across Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, and Barcelona, scoring 99 goals and providing 26 assists. Messi, meanwhile, played 163 UEFA Champions League games across Barca and Paris Saint-Germain, netting 129 times and providing 45 assists.
