After first LaLiga defeat last week against Osasuna, FC Barcelona had to face Deportivo Alaves on Matchday 9 of the 2024/2025 season. The team managed to secure the victory after a thrilling first half where striker Robert Lewandowski scored a hat-trick, matching a feat only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo could achieve in the last decade.
With a hat-trick in today’s match, Robert Lewandowski brought his LaLiga goal tally to 10 for the season, reaffirming his scoring prowess. Over the last decade, only two players have managed to score more than 10 goals before Matchday 10: Messi in 2017 and Ronaldo in 2014.
The Portuguese scored 16 goals in the first 10 LaLiga matches, while the Argentine netted 11. Lewandowski has now scored 10 with one match still to play before reaching Matchday 10, giving him a chance to surpass Messi’s milestone with a brace, or even Ronaldo’s record if he somehow scores seven goals in his next outing.
Lewandowski currently leads the race for the European Golden Boot with 12 goals this season. His closest challenger is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland, who sits just one goal behind with 11. This sets the stage for a thrilling, season-long showdown between two of the game’s elite goal scorers.
Lewandowski’s goals in European leagues
When it comes to goal-scoring, few names resonate like Robert Lewandowski. Even at 36 years old, the Barcelona striker continues to make his mark, now looking forward to share the podium with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi as the third-highest scorer in the history of Europe’s top five leagues:
- Lionel Messi: 496 goals (LaLiga and Ligue 1)
- Cristiano Ronaldo: 495 goals (Premier league and LaLiga)
- Jimmy Greaves: 366 goals (Premier League and Serie A)
- Gerd Muller: 365 goals (Bundesliga)
- Robert Lewandowski: 364 goals (Bundesliga and LaLiga)
Lewandowski matches Luis Suarez’s hat-trick milestone
With three goals in the first 31 minutes of the games against Alaves, Lewandowski marked the fastest hat-trick by a Barcelona player in a LaLiga match since October 2011, when Lionel Messi netted three against Mallorca in just 29 minutes.
Additionally, he has now tied Luis Suarez for the third-most career hat-tricks among active players , with both sitting at 32 . Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo and Messi hold the top two spots, with 67 and 56 hat-tricks, respectively .