Lewandowski's miraculous renaissance: Barcelona now have the striker they've been craving for

With Driblab data we can compare the performance of the same player over a number of years. There are players who decline in performance, who age badly. Others, like Lewandowski, frown when they seem to have reached the point of being considered obsolete. If seasons were films, the last two of the Pole's career would have been the type of film you go to the cinema to see only because the previous ones were spectacular.

But if Lewandowski's start to the campaign was a trailer, we could be in for an absolute banger of a film. It is clear that Lewandowski has hit back at those who have labelled him an outdated product. He's showing a new, improved version, maybe his latest, enhanced by a team that works for him rather than because of him, and reminding us of the best of Lewandowski, who at his best was an era-defining striker.

To see such a different version of the Pole, something has surely changed from last year...

We could not explain this change without referring to the global context of FC Barcelona. The team's performance has improved considerably. Especially at the back. Pressing is one of Flick's main selling points: they allow just 7.77 passes per defensive action. They are the third most intense team in Europe, only behind Tottenham and Monaco.

There is a huge contrast in defensive efficiency: better pressing, better defending. Barcelona have turned offside into a double-edged sword. Against Espanyol, Barça saw their opponents having three goals disallowed for offside, thanks to the extraordinary coordination of their backline to catch them in an offside position. Nobody causes more offsides than Barcelona.  Against Barcelona, teams average 6.6 offsides per game. They are the undisputed leaders in this statistic.

The second highest figure among the teams in the 5 big leagues is Parma, with 3.6 offsides won per game.

This coordinated and collective effort also reflects a greater commitment from the players. The improvement, albeit slight, in attack is a symptom of the defensive performance.

FCB win the ball back earlier, retain possession and progress easily in the final third. By winning the ball back so high up the pitch they also need fewer passes to generate a shot because they are simply closer to goal.

That's where this new version of Lewandowski comes in. Barcelona have slightly lower xG per game figures, but this year they have a striker who is really on fire: Lewandowski is averaging almost a goal per game in LaLiga (0.94), only Mateo Retegui has a better average (1.02). His finishing number puts him on a 30% success rate, meaning that he scores 3 out of every 10 shots he takes.

The most remarkable thing is that the Pole is less involved in the game than he was last year. In other words, he can now rely on a team to get him the ball and players to cover functions that he had to deal with at times last year.

His number of passes has decreased. His average number of chances created has decreased. He's not dropping as much as he did last year, so he's averaging fewer deep passes (passes  outside of a 20 metres radio from goal that end up inside the box).

He looks more physically prepared. And yet his average individual pressing numbers have gone down. This could be a sign of physical decline, but in this better-pressing Barcelona, less is more. Especially in the case of Lewandoswki, who is already 36 years old. He is pressing less, but better.

The Pole's defensive figures show that he is more committed than ever: he averages more interceptions, more recoveries in the opponent's half, more successful tackles, more aggressive actions (tackles attempted in the two second halves after losing possession).

Founded in 2017 as a consultancy, Driblab has driven innovation through data in all aspects of professional football. Thanks to a transversal model, its database collects and models statistics in all directions. From converting matches and videos into bespoke data for training academies to developing cutting-edge technology, helping clubs, federations and representative agencies in talent scouting and transfer markets. Driblab’s smart data is used by clubs all over the world, with success stories such as Dinamo Zagreb, Real Betis and Girondins Bordeaux among others. Here you can find out more about how we work and what we offer.