Of the last 13 goals in the league, the Polish forward has only scored one. Raphinha, Pedri and Dembélé have stepped up.
Although his goals, strictly speaking, have ‘only’ handed Barcelona six points in LaLiga this season, for a few months there was a feeling that everything was about Robert Lewandowski and that if Barça were to become Barça again, it would only be because of the Pole’s goals. For a while, he accumulated almost 50 per cent of the team’s goals (13 of 29 on matchday twelve).
Things have changed. Of the last 13 goals Barça have scored in LaLiga, only one has come from Lewandowski. It is true that the former Bayern man was out for three games due to suspension but Barça recorded wins at the Metropolitano, Montilivi and at home to Getafe. They could live without Lewandowski.
Pedri scored against Getafe and Girona and has already given Barça eight points this season. Raphinha, who has been brilliant since Dembélé's injury and scored in Sevilla and on Sunday was involved in the three goals (he had also given Barça the win with a great goal in El Sadar), and Dembélé was also key in the Metropolitano and also in the Copa.
Gavi, De Jong, Jordi Alba and Marcos Alonso himself have also joined the goalscoring party and the team have finally shaken off the feeling of being dependent on a player who is world-class but who, at 34, will also have his ups and downs in the four years of his contract.
Barça now need to add Ferran Torres and Ansu to the party, the other forwards in the squad who, theoretically, have even more of a goalscoring profile than Raphinha and Dembélé, especially as they approach such giant-killers as those against Manchester United in the Europa League and Real Madrid in La Liga.