Was Robert Lewandowski prevented by FC Barcelona from scoring any more La Liga goals at the end of the 2022/23 season in order to prevent a million-dollar bonus for FC Bayern? This is now being claimed in a biography of the Polish player.
A book is causing quite a stir in Spain these days, namely the biography of his compatriot Robert Lewandowski written by Sebastian Staszewski. One chapter deals with the Polish striker’s first season with FC Barcelona.
In the 2022/23 season, Lewandowski won the Spanish championship with his new club and secured the top scorer title. However, two match days before the end of the season, “Lewy” was allegedly asked to attend a meeting with several board members, including president Joan Laporta.
A “surprising” request
Lewandowski was asked not to score any more goals in La Liga. According to his biography, this request left Lewandowski “surprised” and was a unique occurrence in his career. After the 36th match day, the exceptional striker was five goals ahead of Real striker Karim Benzema with 23 goals.
The request is said to have been made for financial reasons by the already struggling Catalans: if Lewandowski had scored 25 La Liga goals in his first season, his former club Bayern Munich would have reportedly pocketed an additional €2.5 million in bonuses.
Two 90-minute games, but no goals
None of the parties involved have yet commented on the “incident.” One thing is certain: Lewandowski, who had failed to score in only one of his previous six La Liga games and scored a total of six goals during that period, came away empty-handed in the last two games. The Polish player was on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in both the 3-0 win against Mallorca and the 1-2 defeat in Vigo at the end of the season.
In any case, the sudden “goal drought” did not change Lewandowski’s first “Pichichi” trophy, which is awarded to the top scorer in a La Liga season. Benzema, who ended up playing ten games fewer than his rival, scored only one more goal and finished with 19.
