Robert Lewandowski followed in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo with his performance in Barcelona's UEFA Champions League thrashing of Young Boys.
Hansi Flick's side responded to their surprise 4-2 La Liga loss to Osasuna at the weekend with a 5-0 victory over their Swiss opponents on Tuesday, the win earning them their first points of the 2024/25 league phase.
Lewandowski started the rout with a goal after just eight minutes, with Raphinha and Inigo Martinez scoring in the space of three minutes before halftime.
Lewandowski's second of the game followed early in the second half, and a late own goal from Mohamed Ali Camara compounded a miserable visit to Catalonia for Young Boys.
In the process, Barca's Polish star also matched a feat previously recorded in this competition by its all-time leading goal scorer.
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Cristiano Ronaldo feat matched by Robert Lewandowski
Lewandowski's double against Young Boys moved him to 96 goals in his career in the Champions. Impressively, 51 of those have come since he turned 30 years old. Ronaldo is the only other man to have scored more than a half-century of goals in the competition after his 30th birthday, the Al Nassr star having netted 68 times since that particular birthday.
51 - @FCBarcelona´s @lewy_official 🇵🇱 has become just the second player in UEFA @ChampionsLeague history to score 50+ goals after turning 30 years of age (51th such goal tonight), following Cristiano Ronaldo (68). Eternal. pic.twitter.com/tMjbA3cQHo
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) October 1, 2024
Lewandowski will now hope to become only the third man in history to score 100 goals in the competition. He needs only four more to hit that mark.
Barca's next Champions League game will see them host Bayern Munich on October 23, just three days before El Clasico against reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid.
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