"His best match in a Barcelona shirt" - Xavi lauds superstar forward after 3-0 Atletico Madrid win
Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez believes Robert Lewandowski's performance against Atletico Madrid over the weekend was his best for the club. The Catalans thrashed Los Rojiblancos 3-0 on Sunday, March 17, bringing an end to the latter's 25-match unbeaten run at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Joao Felix opened the scoring in the 38th minute, converting Lewandowski's cutback inside the area. The Pole then netted a brilliant goal two minutes after time, scoring on the swivel after Raphinha found him inside the box with a chipped pass.
Lewandowski wasn't done there, though. In the 65th minute, he held the ball up well near his own half before finding Ilkay Gundogan, who sprayed the ball out wide to Jules Kounde. Kounde passed it Lewandowski, who had made the run forward, and the latter crossed it for Fermin Lopez to head home to make it 3-0.
After the match, Xavi was full of praise for his striker, saying (as quoted by Barca Universal):
“This was possibly Lewandowski's best match in a Barca shirt.”
Aside from his heavy involvement in all three Barcelona goals on the night, Lewandowski also recorded three key passes and three big chances created. He won three fouls and four of his seven duels, while making a clearance as well.
Robert Lewandowski reacts on social media to Barcelona's win over Atletico Madrid
Shortly after the full-time whistle, Robert Lewandowski took to Instagram to praise his club for their win over Atletico Madrid. He posted a carousel of images, including one of the entire squad celebrating in the dressing room, and captioned it:
"What a game! 3 points are going with us to Barcelona! ⚽️⚽️⚽️"
Lewandowski, 35, is now up to 20 goals in 39 matches across competitions this season.
Sunday's victory also means Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 10 matches across competitions and have won four out of their last five. In this span, they've moved into the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals and second place in La Liga, though they are eight points adrift of Real Madrid.