Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski says he didn’t expect his debut season at Camp Nou to be a big success because of the club’s rebuilding efforts.
Since joining from Bayern Munich in the summer for 45 million euro, the Poland international has scored 18 goals in 17 games across all competitions. However, Lewandowski’s individual brilliance was insufficient to prevent Xavi’s side from exiting the Champions League at the group stage.
Their early exit, confirmed last week when Inter Milan thrashed Viktoria Plzen and Barcelona lost 3-0 at home to Bayern Munich, was a disaster for the Spanish club, which is struggling financially. But Lewandowski insists he wasn’t oblivious to the situation before moving to Camp Nou.
“We are evolving. I did not expect to arrive and that everything would go well in the first season. I insist, it is a process that requires time and patience,”
the 34-year-old told La Vanguardia.
Barcelona has only four points from five Champions League games this season and will be relegated to the Europa League for the second year in a row. Things have improved in La Liga, where the Catalans are one point behind leaders Real Madrid, but a 3-1 Clasico loss to their rivals earlier this month was a let down.
“Obviously I’m not happy, Barcelona should be in the last 16. Before coming to Barcelona I was already aware that the first season could be harder than it should be,”
said the Poland international.
With the Bluagrana already out of the UEFA Champions League and certain to play in the Europa League, their away match against Viktoria scheduled for November 1 is a non-event hence the player could be asked to play in that game. In Febuary, Xavi’s men will participate in a Europa League knockout stage.
