On Tuesday, Barcelona defeated Brest 3-0 to move into provisional second place in the Champions League group standings, with Robert Lewandowski scoring his 100th Champions League goal. The veteran striker scored from the penalty in the 10th minute to put the Catalans ahead and attain his milestone, then added a second late on after Dani Olmo’s goal to hand the French team their first defeat. After surrendering points in their previous two La Liga games, coach Hansi Flick challenged his players to “eliminate” faults in their game, and Barcelona delivered a strong performance.
They got off to a swift start when Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot carelessly clattered into Lewandowski’s back after the forward controlled Pedri’s cross with his chest. The attacker got back up and clinically despatched the penalty, opening the scoring after 10 minutes and bringing his tally to 100.
Lewandowski became only the third player in the competition to reach that milestone, trailing former Barcelona great Lionel Messi (129) and former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo (140).
Under Flick, the forward’s form has improved substantially this season, with 22 goals in 19 matches between La Liga and the Champions League.
The 36-year-old has 125 Champions League games to his name, having previously played for Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. “I am very happy, many years ago I did not think I could score more than 100 goals in the Champions League,” Lewandowski reported to Movistar.
For me, the most essential thing is that we win every game; if I can score, it’s the ideal solution.
“I don’t know what amount of matches we have left before the end of the year but we must conquer them all and rest over Christmas.
” Barcelona were still without teenage prodigy Lamine Yamal, who was recovering from an ankle injury, but Raphinha was active on the right, and the Catalans dominated proceedings. The Dutch goalkeeper made up for his earlier error by rejecting the Spaniard with his leg.