Images via @ChampionsLeague, @juventusfcen and @FCBarcelona on Twitter
It was a fairly depressing Champions League match week for those of us with interest in the Polish players on display, with all but one dropping to the Europa League or to no European competition at all.
Kamil Grabara - Sevilla 3-0 FC Copenhagen
Grabara was completely helpless to prevent the first two Sevilla goals, and given the game was up by the time he parried a shot which fell to Gonzalo Montiel to slam home a third, he didn’t have the worst game he’s played. Copenhagen were unlucky not to take something from the game, hitting the woodwork on a number of occasions with the score still 0-0.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Copenhagen again next year, as their domestic campaign has somewhat floundered. As I wrote in an edition of this round-up last time out, Grabara will probably have a number of suitors better placed to help his career move along, be that in January or the summer.
Wojciech Szczęsny, Arkadiusz Milik - Benfica 4-3 Juventus
Juventus crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night, in no small part to a woeful defensive display in the first half. Much as you could be critical of Szczęsny for conceding four, he had little chance with any of them, and was a large part of the reason the scoreline maintained some respectability.
Milik was substituted on for the second half, and scored a lovely volley with around 15 minutes of the match left. This helped spur on a bit of a comeback, although it was too little too late.
The Italian giants may well find themselves out of Europe completely by the time the Champions League groups conclude, and that may well be a blessing in disguise given that Juve need to sort out their inconsistent league form as well. Milik has been one of the few success stories at Juventus so far this season, and we can only hope that can keep going.
Robert Lewandowski - Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich
With Barcelona knowing they were condemned to the Europa League before they even kicked off, you could sense that their players felt like getting the game over with as soon as it had started. They did just that, by allowing Bayern to race into a two goal lead from which they never recovered. Lewandowski had a penalty appeal given, only for it to be taken away on closer inspection. Writing on Twitter, I expressed my mild amusement that given how many strong penalty claims Barca and Lewy have had not given in both La Liga and the Champions League this season, to get one taken away was probably a very bitter pill to swallow.
Lewandowski played much like he has for Barca so far this season, taking up good positions only to not receive the ball. He was substituted with around ten minutes to go and it’s lucky that he escaped without injury, such were the robust challenges he suffered, particularly in the first half. Referee Anthony Taylor appeared to be taking the same approach he did in the recent Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Manchester City, allowing a level of physicality that other officials would not.
As someone who writes about Polish football, I (and I note many Polish football fans) have felt the need to sometimes go out to bat for Barca now that Lewy is playing there. The truth is that Barcelona are in a rebuild and for every good transfer or tactical decision they make there is another horrendous error on these fronts. It’s a team with potential, yes, but teams with potential do not always fulfil said potential.
I think the biggest frustration for a fan of Lewandowski is that he now has to carry his club team as well as his national team (to an extent). The even more frustrating thing is that he consistently gets the ball fed to him when he plays for Poland, but that’s not the case yet at Barca. In my opinion that’s the biggest problem with Barcelona currently, they’ve spent €50 million on a striker and they barely pass him the ball. Throw in a leaky defence, a midfield caught between too young and too old and Xavi’s more strange personnel choices (seemingly reluctant to play Ansu Fati) and you’ve got a recipe for middling performances.
I’m not yet at the point of questioning Lewandowski’s desire to leave Bayern (I think it’s perfectly reasonable for someone to leave a club when they’ve been told they only have another 12 months there), but the Barcelona “project” requires at least winning La Liga or they’ll be in an even worse position than they currently are.
In other news, Piotr Zieliński was rested as Napoli cruised to a 3-0 win over Rangers in Italy. He made a brief five-minute cameo at the end of the match, and he did little of note.
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