Images via Mikolaj Barbanell/Shutterstock
Yesterday, both Robert Lewandowski and Sebastian Szymański were confirmed as league champions with Barcelona and Feyenoord respectively, coming two games prior to the final matchday in the Eredivisie and a full four games ahead of the last game of the La Liga season.
For Szymański, this came playing for a Feyenoord team that whilst strong, was never expected to win the Dutch title ahead of stiff competition from perennial winners Ajax, even if the Amsterdammers were weakened by losing some of their best names and manager. Then there was a resurgent PSV Eindhoven side that were very close to playing Champions League football this season under Ruud Van Nistelrooy and a hugely underrated AZ Alkmaar team that are fighting for a place in the Conference League final.
Feyenoord won the title at De Kuip on Sunday afternoon against Go Ahead Eagles, in a routine 3-0 win in which Szymański picked up a booking and was substituted after an hour with the result pretty much confirmed.
Of course, last summer there was a little disappointment from some in Poland that Szymański had chosen Feyenoord over a move to a Top 5 league, but I think it would be fair to say that he has flourished in Holland. With 10 goals and 7 assists in 38 appearances so far this season in all competitions, even a knee injury which sidelined Szymański for the whole month of February hasn’t slowed his development. Still only few days on from his 24th birthday, Feyenoord want to pay to hold onto Szymański, who is technically still under contract with Dynamo Moscow. Szymański reportedly has no intention of returning to Russia, is very happy in Rotterdam and wishes to make the move permanent as soon as possible.
As for Lewandowski, there was a pervading sense of thought, more from pundits outside of Poland, that he was taking a big risk joining a Barcelona side in the middle of a rebuild and in the midst of huge financial problems. Whilst European performances this season were below par and financial issues are certainly still weighing heavy in Catalonia, Barca are very much a team on the up.
Barcelona managed to confirm what has been in little doubt for some weeks now that they would win the La Liga title with a resounding win at the home of local rivals Espanyol. Lewy began the party with a tap-in off his knee barely ten minutes into the game after good work from Alejandro Balde, and grabbed his second five minutes before halftime with another tap-in, this time assisted by Raphinha. After spending the entire second half chasing an elusive hat-trick, Barca conceded a couple of late goals to sully the scoreline to read 4-2. Despite relatively muted celebrations after the final whistle considering they had just won the league, some Espanyol fans still took exception and angrily invaded the pitch, chasing the Barcelona players and coaching staff down the tunnel.
Despite the European frustrations and the now-constant financial tightrope the club walk, it has to be said that Barcelona have had a good season, in no small part thanks to Lewandowski. Winning a first La Liga title in four years, a Supercopa and likely a Pichichi for Lewy is absolutely a success. Lewandowski has 31 goals and seven assists in 42 appearances so far in his first season in Spain, which is a great return even for one of the best strikers in world football and one who cost a financially troubled club a €50 million outlay last summer.
The similarities between Lewandowski and Szymański are thus: both winning a league title in their first season, both making a big positive impact and both doing this for teams that most people would largely have tipped to be runners-up at best before the season started. This would be impressive in itself before we consider it an unusual season interrupted by a World Cup, Szymański dealing with injury for part of the run-in and Lewandowski being bizarrely criticised by elements of Barca’s online fanbase for not being able to rescue them when they did have poor results this season, notably in European competition.
It’s hard to say whether both players will be in this same position at the end of next season, given that the Eredivisie is not an especially rich league and the best teams often have to sell their best players on at a profit to Premier League, Bundesliga or Serie A clubs, and Barcelona have their well-documented financial problems which doesn’t align with the need to recruit quality players to achieve their aims.
One thing is certain: both Lewandowski and Szymański will be able to build on successful first seasons at their clubs and hopefully this will have a positive impact on the Poland national team when they play their next games in June and in the future.
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