Barcelona star Robert Lewandowski equals incredible record held by Brazilian legend Ronaldo Nazario
Barcelona attacker Robert Lewandowski became the first player since Ronaldo Nazario to score 30 or more goals across competitions in his first season at the Catalan club.
Lewandowski reached the mark when he bagged a brace against Espanyol in the Catalan derby. He has now scored 31 goals and has provided seven assists in 42 matches across competitions since his summer move from Bayern Munich.
Ronaldo Nazario, on the other hand, joined the Blaugrana from PSV Eindhoven at the start of the 1996-97 season. He scored an astonishing 47 goals and provided 12 assists in 49 games for the club in his first season.
Barcelona, meanwhile, became the La Liga champions, courtesy of their win at the RCDE Stadium. They now have 85 points from 34 matches and lead the second-placed Real Madrid by 14 points with four games to go.
Robert Lewandowski is in the running to win the Pichichi as he has now scored 21 La Liga goals in 30 matches. The Pole is the Spanish top flight's top scorer at the moment.
Robert Lewandowski recently praised Barcelona teammate Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
Apart from Robert Lewandowski, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has been another record-breaker for Barcelona this season. He surpassed Claudio Bravo's record for the most clean sheets in a single season.
The German has kept 25 clean sheets in La Liga this season. In his recent appearance at the Laureus red carpet, Lewandowski heaped praise on his former Bundesliga rival, telling (via Football Espana):
“This is the season of Ter Stegen. Football is a team sport, but Marc has been very good in many games and I’m sure he’ll get his record. I’m very happy for him because I know how hard he’s working to achieve it.”
While Lewandowski has scored the goals, Ter Stegen has prevented them from going in. Hence, there is no doubt that both players have been pivotal in Barca's triumphant campaign.
The team has won two trophies in Xavi's first full season in charge. Apart from the La Liga, they also won the Supercopa de Espana.