Robert Lewandowski made history on his debut for Barcelona in the Champions League. He became the first player in the elite competition with hat-tricks at three different clubs. Franck Kessie scored a goal in the first game as a starter. Barca scored five goals and conceded only one goal, and everything smells like a great return of the Catalans to the top of Spanish and European football…Group of Death comes to life: Bayern outclass Inter, Lewandowski gets another hat-trickBut the most talked about player is Ousmane Dembele, Barcelona’s “reinforcement” awaited since the departure of Neymar. He came five years ago from Dortmund to replace Neymar for 140 million euros and turned out to be one of the most expensive failures in the history of football. He annoyed everyone around him with his behavior, casualness, frequent injuries…1 – @lewy_official 🇲🇨 is the first player to score a UEFA Champions League #UCL hat trick for three different teams (one for Borussia Dortmund, four for Bayern Munich, one for Barcelona). Prolific. pic.twitter.com/EE435xrGMD— OptaJose (@OptaJose) September 7, 2022 He was ‘crossed out’ last winter when the new coach Xavi decided to start his football reincarnation against all laws of logic and common sense. Xavi worked with him like a child in primary school, filled his fragile confidence and found a way to exploit his qualities. The Frenchman gave indications that he can return to the level of the former games from Dortmund during last winter, but it seemed that it was already too late for Barca. He refused a new contract and waited to leave for nothing in the summer transfer window. His contract had already expired when there was a big turn in the negotiations and above all in the head of the controversial Frenchman.Dembele: This is my best year at Barcelona – and I never intended to leaveHe agreed to sign a new loyalty to Barcelona for twice the salary (he had 12 million euros net, and the new contract brought him 6 million euros per year net) but with the condition that he depends only on himself and that with performance-related bonuses he can reach 11 million per year. This season, a new Dembele appeared on the field. Last night’s picture when he runs, wins the lost ball again and sends a pass as if on a plate for Robert Lewandowski to score was something unimaginable in Dembele’s career in Barcelona so far. Before that, he took a corner for Kessie’s leading goal, and concluded the night with a masterful assist over the entire defense for Ferran Torres’ goal for 5:1.ousmane dembele is a madman 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/AgH1kQAhdl— 🥷💨 (@ka66yyap) September 7, 2022 There are more people in Spain now who are starting to believe (just like Xavi did last winter) that Dembele is no less a reinforcement for the team than Lewandowski. In fact, the two of them are the biggest boost in tandem. The Pole needs such a player to serve him, and the French seems to have needed a striker like the former Bayern ace. „He is happy, he provides assists, he makes a difference, he is a dagger down the flank and he is being decisive. I have seen few players with that ability in one on one. He is at the level of the best Neymar. He had suffered a lot in recent years and he deserves what he is now. There is no pure winger who can come out on both sides like he does“ said Xavi. Barca’s coach invested a lot of nerves, time and his own credit in revitalizing the controversial Frenchman, and he also got the club to invest money in him. Dembele seems grateful for now and is starting to pay back his debts to the club and the fans.##NAJAVA_MECA_6625176##
