Eight years seemed to be enough for Robert Lewandowski at Bayern Munich. Having helped the Bavarians to win eight Bundesliga titles in a row as well as a UEFA Champions League trophy in 2020, the Pole striker felt ready to leave.
This summer, Lewandowski pushed hard to join FC Barcelona, eventually getting what he wanted by signing a four-year deal with the La Liga giants. Having recorded344 goals in 375 appearances at Bayern, the expectations at the Camp Nou are unsurprisingly sky-high.
Lewandowski, however, turns 34 this month and he never played in Spain before. Even so, he feels he’sbeen ready for this challenge for years, having worked under Pep Guardiola—whom in Lewi’s eyes has muchin common withXavi Hernandez.
Robert Lewandowski on Xavi: “He is very similar to Guardiola”
“Guardiola’s philosophy and his style of caring for and managing the team was like bringing Barcato Bayern Munich. Xavi is very similar to Guardiola,” Lewandowski told Pole journalist Tomas Wlodarczyk.
“They were both ‘6’,they worked together. They seefootball in the same way. With that in mind, Barca was the only option for me and it was great preparation when I was there.I didn’t talk toGuardiola before signing.
“But when I was with him at Bayern it was like a great preparation to join Barcelona one day. All the staff were Spanish and there were eight Spanish players. During that period I had a very good relationship with Thiago and Javi Martinez. Both of them congratulated me when I signed for Barcelona.”
This is certainly not the first time Lewandowski shows respect for his new boss, as he even said Xavi was a reason why he wanted to join Barcelona so badly. Lewandowski’s official debut with the Cules might occur on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano on Matchday 1 of the 2022-23 La Liga.
