Where does Robert Lewandowski rank among Barcelona greats?
The Catalans derby later tonight will be a special occasion for many reasons, one of which reflects a personal milestone for Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.
After all, the game at Estadi Montilivi will be the player’s 100th game in the Blaugrana colours and will culminate in a special landmark in his stint at the club.
As revealed yesterday, the veteran’s current goalscoring record at the club is even better than legends including Lionel Messi and Neymar at the 100th game stage and Mundo Deportivo provides an even more comprehensive overview of where he stands.
Only ten players are better in history
Heading into his 100th game as a Barcelona player, Lewandowski has already scored 63 goals for the club and is amongst the best-performing players in the club’s history reaching the special three-digit appearance.
Ten players, however, better his record and the Polish star could break into the top ten if he scores a brace or a hat-trick against Girona.
Paulino Alcantara back in 1924 scored 132 goals for Barcelona in his first 100 games at the club and tops the list by quite some distance. Mariano Martin at 104 and Laszi Kubala at 98 goals round up the top three.
Josep Escola (96), and Angel Arocha (91) are in fourth and fifth respectively while ‘El Pistolero’ Luis Suarez is sixth in 88. Samuel Eto’o, Evaristo, Sandor Kocsis and Eulogio Martinez round up the top ten, the last of whom has 65 goals to his name.
Lewandowski, thus, is two goals away from being joint tenth on the list and a hat-trick away from a sole place in the top ten.
Meanwhile, the list of legends behind him in terms of goals by the 100th game is exhaustive and quite startling.
Apart from the previously discussed Neymar and Messi, players including Hristo Stoichov, Quini, Neymar, Rivaldo, Patrick Kluivert, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Luis Enrique, David Villa, Luis Suárez Miramontes and Gary Lineker feature on that roster.