Red Star Belgrade 2-5 Barcelona: Lewandowski brace helps Blaugrana to comfortable win

Embed from Getty Images

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski scored a goal in each half to help them secure a comprehensive 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade in the Champions League.

Defender Inigo Martinez opened the scoring with a close-range header from a Raphinha free-kick in the 13th minute, nodding across goal to find the bottom-left corner.

However, Barca were pegged back when Silas beat their aggressive offside trap to equalise with a tidy finish from a quick counterattack 14 minutes later.

Lewandowski then tucked home on the rebound after Raphinha struck the post in the 43rd minute, before extending Barca’s lead eight minutes into the second half with a first-time strike from a Jules Kounde cross.

The France full-back also set up Raphinha for Barca’s fourth then recorded his third assist in the 76th minute, putting the ball on a plate for Fermin Lopez to fire home Barca’s fifth from inside the box.

Substitute Milson reduced the deficit for the home side six minutes from time, but Red Star remain without a point in 35th place, while Barca are sixth in the 36-team table with nine.

55 – @FCBarcelona has scored 55 goles in their first 16 games of a single season in all competitions for the first time in their history (overpassing 54 goals scored in 1950/51 under Ferdinand Daucik). Steamroller. pic.twitter.com/pacKtNf18h

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) November 6, 2024

Data Debrief: Lewandowski out on his own

Lewandowski has now scored 19 goals in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season; the most of any player for a team in Europe’s big five leagues across all competitions.

Eleven of those 19 goals have come in away matches, which is also the most of any player this term.

As a team, Barca have netted 55 goals in 16 games across all competitions in 2024-25, the most of any team from the big five European leagues.