Is Lewandowski slowing down when Barcelona need him most? - ESPN

First off, a happy birthday to Robert Lewandowski: he turns 36 years old this midweek. It signals the arrival of a time-honoured dilemma for FC Barcelona: What do you get the man who has everything?

The top choice, I'd say, if there are any on the market, would be a time machine. Not to fly forward and discover the mysteries of the future, nor to go back centuries and bring back tales of crusading Lewandowskis and their adventures in the 15th century. Just a wee time machine that could strip five or six years off the big Poland international striker because, frankly, he's showing his age. He's now in decline.

Yes, yes, I know: it was thanks to his brace of goals that Barcelona finished the first round of matches on top of LaLiga with a groovy little 2-1 win at Valencia's Mestalla under their belts. And yes, I know that as recently as March, I wrote positively about «Lewa» because of two games (wins over Napoli and Atletico Madrid) in which he prioritised team play, set up goals for Fermín López and looked like he'd undergone a mental «reset.»

But here's the rub.

Lewandowski, irrespective of his goals, stank the house out on Saturday night in Valencia. That in itself wouldn't be the end of the world after one single match; what is worrying, however, is how repetitive this trend is.

Barcelona's most expensively salaried player — widely reported to be earning €30m pre-tax this season — keeps contributing very little other than goals (I know that sounds a provocative description but back to that in a minute), then says that he's been suffering a physical crisis, following that up by saying that he's learned from it and that the future's going to be rosy and lovely.

In my last Lewandowski column, I detailed how forensically