Robert Lewandowski made his first hat trick in the Champions League with FC Barcelona.
Photo: Enric Fontcuberta / EFE
The coach of Barcelona, Xavi Hernández, said that for the Barça team “Lewandowski is the best ‘9’ in Europe” after the Polish striker scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 win against Viktoria Pilsen on matchday one of the Champions League.
“In addition to scoring goals, he contributes a lot in attack. He has extraordinary maturity and a spectacular understanding of the game. He is humble, orderly and does a great job in pressure. I don’t want to compare, but he is at the level of Benzema or Haaland”, added the coach at a press conference.
The action of the FC Barcelona
Regarding the team in general, Xavi stayed with “the intensity that allows concentration not to be lost at any time” and “with the understanding of the game”, although he pointed out that “some silly balls were lost”.
Another of the players who stood out against Viktoria Pilsen was Ousmane Dembélé, which is making a great start to the season. “During my career I have seen few footballers with the ability to overwhelm both wings like Dembélé. I am very happy for him. He is at the level of the best Neymar in his time at Barça, ”said Xavi.
Xavi’s changes
The Barça coach made six changes to the starting eleven and, in the second half, gave other players with little relevance at the start of the season the chance, such as Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, Ferran Torres and Memphis Depay. “All who have entered have been very good“. But Xavi wanted to highlight “Ferran Torres, who scored a goal and gave an assist”.
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