After a long exchange posse and an almost equally long thriller about his eligibility to play, Robert Lewandowski has finally arrived in the Primera Division with FC Barcelona. However, the debut ended disappointingly, after more than 100 minutes of play, DFB goalkeeper ter Stegen even had to save a point.
World footballer Robert Lewandowski has made a disappointing debut at FC Barcelona in the Spanish championship. The Catalans, with the former FC Bayern striker, were unable to get past a 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano at the start of the league on Saturday evening. After the nail-biter for his permission to play, Lewandowski was in the starting line-up and played for more than 90 minutes, but without a sense of achievement.
In the exciting final phase alone, the 33-year-old Pole had several chances to score the winning goal. In the 82nd minute, Lewandowski’s shot from 14 yards narrowly missed the left post, and a little later an attempt to take a direct shot after a shot saved by ex-Dortmund player Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang went wide.
Fifteen minutes before the end, the team with German national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen unsuccessfully called for a penalty kick after Lewandowski was slightly pulled in the penalty area. Vallecano earned the point with a self-sacrificing fight in defence. In injury time, Barça veteran Sergio Busquets saw the yellow-red card, a few moments later Ter Stegen saved at least one point with a strong save from close range. A goal by Rayo deep in the nine-minute (!) stoppage time was rightly disallowed due to an offside position.
Only the night before, after another million-dollar deal, the Catalans received last-minute league play permits not only for Lewandowski, but also for the other newcomers Andreas Christensen, Franck Kessie and Raphinha. This also applied to Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto, whose contracts had been renewed. Barça had previously announced that the club had sold 24.5 percent of the shares in Barça Studios to Orpheus Media for 100 million euros in the fourth campaign of this kind.
