News CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

Lewandowski equals Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy Champions League record

Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has matched former Real Madrid stars Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy's Champions League records, after Barcelona's victory over Young Boys in their second UCL fixture.

Earlier this week, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona bounced back from their 4-2 league loss to Osasuna with an emphatic 5-0 win over Young Boys in their second Champions League match.

Robert Lewandowski netted twice, taking his UCL goal tally to 96. This marked the Polish forward’s first time scoring against a Swiss team in the competition, and with this, he has now scored against clubs from 16 different countries—matching a record previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

The Polish captain, Robert Lewandowski, is only behind the iconic Alessandro Del Piero, Zlatan Ibrahimović, and Thomas Müller, who have all netted goals against clubs from 18 different countries. Just ahead of them are Lionel Messi and Raúl González with goals against teams from 19 nations, while Karim Benzema leads the pack with goals against teams from 20 countries.

Despite Lewandowski’s impressive record, he’s yet to score a Champions League goal against a German team—surprisingly, given his over 10 seasons spent in the Bundesliga. However, the Barcelona forward will have the opportunity to break that streak when Hansi Flick’s side meets Bayern Munich in their next Champions League fixture.

Lewandowski has faced Bayern Munich before, once with Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 UCL final and twice with Barcelona in the 2022/23 Champions League group stages and is yet to score against them.

Robert currently sits third on the list of all-time Champions League goal scorers on 96 goals behind Lionel Messi (129) and Cristiano Ronaldo (140).

Photo: Colas Buera / Pressinphoto / Icon Sport

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