Barça: Flick didn’t know Lewandowski was approaching the 100-goal mark before replacing him
Author of a brace in Barcelona’s commanding 2-5 victory in Belgrade, Robert Lewandowski moved one goal closer to reaching the 100-goal milestone in the Champions League. His coach, Hansi Flick, was unaware of this when he substituted him.
Robert Lewandowski (36 years old) could have continued playing for longer on Wednesday during Barcelona’s dominant 2-5 win against Red Star Belgrade. The Polish striker was substituted in the 79th minute by young Pau Victor (22) after scoring a brace (43rd, 53rd) that brought him just one goal away from the legendary 100-goal mark in the Champions League. He would have likely seized the final quarter of an hour to reach that milestone… if only his coach, Hansi Flick, had known about the count.
“If I had known, I might not have substituted him”
“If I had known beforehand, I might not have substituted him,” said the German coach in the post-match press conference. “It’s my fault, but we also have to think about the next match. Today, he scored two important goals, especially the first one to put us ahead 2-1. He was crucial for us.”
With 99 goals, Lewandowski currently ranks third in the all-time Champions League top scorers list, behind Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo (141 goals) and Argentina’s Lionel Messi (129). He leads French striker Karim Benzema (90) and Spanish legend Raul (71). The former Lech Poznan forward has scored 17 times for Borussia Dortmund, 69 times for Bayern Munich, and 13 times for Barcelona, the club he joined in 2022.
This season, Lewandowski has at least four more matches in the competition to become the third “centurion”: against Brest (November 26), at Dortmund (December 11), away at Benfica (January 21, 2025), and then against Atalanta Bergamasca (January 29, 2025). The Polish striker has made an impressive start to the season with Barcelona, scoring 19 goals in 16 matches across all competitions. He currently leads the scoring charts in both La Liga (14 goals) and the Champions League (5 goals, tied with Raphinha, Harry Kane, and Viktor Gyökeres).
