Barcelona once begged Lewandowski... not to score goals.

In his newly released book, striker Lewandowski reveals that the Barcelona management had instructed him not to score any more goals in the final matches of the season. So what was the reason?

Lewandowski has been asked not to score any more goals in the final two games of the 2022-2023 season - Photo: REUTERS

This shocking information was revealed in the biography of striker Lewandowski. The book details events that took place when the 2022-2023 La Liga season had only two rounds left, a season in which Barcelona had already officially been crowned champions under the leadership of coach Xavi Hernandez.

According to accounts, Lewandowski had a meeting with several members of the Barcelona board of directors, including President Joan Laporta. At the time, the Polish striker was leading the top scorer list with 23 goals.

At the meeting, a board member bluntly stated: "Robert Lewandowski, we need you to stop scoring in the last two games."

The Polish striker himself was utterly surprised by this unprecedented request throughout his illustrious football career.

The reason behind this seemingly absurd offer stems entirely from Barcelona's financial burden.

Lewandowski's transfer contract from Bayern Munich in 2022 included a clause stipulating that Barcelona would have to pay Bayern an additional bonus of €2.5 million if Lewandowski scored or exceeded 25 goals in a season.

With the La Liga title already secured, the Barca management reportedly decided to ask their star player to refrain from scoring any more goals to avoid activating the costly bonus clause.

The autobiography 'Lewandowski. Prawdziwy' was written by journalist Sebastian Staszewski - Photo: Screenshot

The fact is that Lewandowski didn't score any more goals in the last two matches of the 2022-2023 season, even though he played the full 90 minutes in both games. At the end of the season, he won the Golden Boot with 23 goals, ahead of his competitor Karim Benzema (Real Madrid).

In addition to the incident involving the goal and the supplemental clause, the biography also provides another anecdote to illustrate the precarious economic situation at Camp Nou.

During a team trip, Lewandowski noticed that the meal menu had too little meat and fish. When he asked the chef about this shortage, the response he received was: "We have to save money."

TUAN LONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/barcelona-tung-nan-ni-lewandowski-khong-ghi-ban-20251120133315579.htm