Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski says he is confident that his former manager Pep Guardiola, who he calls a “genius,” can turn things around at Manchester City and get the team back to its best.
Guardiola is currently experiencing the worst run of his managerial career. City has lost eight of its last 11 games and won just once, throwing away leads late in matches as the Catalan coach struggles to find a way to plug a leaky defense that has been decimated by injuries.
After winning a record-breaking fourth straight Premier League title last season, City currently sits fifth and has fallen nine points behind leader Liverpool, while just two wins from six games in the Champions League has put the team in danger of missing out on the knockout stages.
“As I know Pep, for him this will be a very difficult situation,” Lewandowski, who enjoyed two incredibly fruitful seasons under Guardiola at Bayern Munich, tells CNN Sport’s Patrick Snell in an exclusive interview. “But this is football. In the end, we are human and so many kinds of situations are put in front of us.
“I’m sure Pep will find the solution to figure out how to get back on the right track with the players, the form and winning games as well.
“After so many years being at the top – playing amazing football, beating so many opponents and winning so many titles – now so many different issues are coming at the same moment. Sometimes, it’s tough and they need time.
“But I’m pretty sure he will find how to be at the top again because he’s a genius, an amazing coach, and in the end, this is football. You can’t think that everything you have in your head, what kind of plan you have, will (always happen). Sometimes, you have to find a solution to the way things are going – well or badly.”
Lewandowski, who recently became just the third player in history to reach 100 goals in the Champions League, says trying to “figure out the solution” to City’s woes is something Guardiola and his players, in particular those who are the most experienced, have to tackle together.
Though Guardiola has never experienced a downturn in form quite like this one as a coach, Lewandowski highlights that in football a situation can improve just as quickly as it deteriorated.
As is the case every season, a hectic festive period on the English football calendar provides the chance for a team to drastically turn its season around.
“For us, sometimes when we lose points in one or two games, we have to know: ‘This is football, it doesn’t matter what you’ve already achieved; it’s more important what you can achieve again and what kind of goals you have in front of you,’” Poland’s all-time record goalscorer says.
“You have to always be ready for everything that goes on around you. Sometimes, you can’t be ready for this, but if you are in this kind of situation, you have to find solutions. He has so many amazing players – and experience – in the dressing room, so he will be trying to find the solution with them.”
Barça back on top – for now
In Spain, Barcelona currently sits top of La Liga as it aims to wrestle the title back from bitter rival Real Madrid, which romped to a league and Champions League double last season.
Under head coach Hansi Flick this campaign, Lewandowski has rekindled the goalscoring form he enjoyed at the peak of his career and already has 23 goals in 23 games across La Liga and the Champions League.
However, it has been a turbulent few weeks for the Blaugrana in the league, with the team recording just one win in its last six games – including shock home defeats to Las Palmas and Leganés – to allow Real and Atlético Madrid back into the title race.
Lewandowski says it will be “impossible” for any team to be on top form for the entire season given yet another increase in the number of matches, this year due to the expanded Champions League format.
What will be crucial, he says, is finding the team’s “best form at the most important times of the season.”
Barça is currently level on points with Atleti but with a superior goal difference and one point ahead of Real – though both clubs from the capital have a game in hand. On Saturday, Barcelona faces off with the Colchoneros – La Liga’s hottest team with six straight wins – in what could be a pivotal clash in this season’s title race.
“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing or where we’re playing, we have to be ready mentally,” Lewandowski says. “It’s a process, we want to win every game possible and win the title in the end, but sometimes games like the last two happen.
“I hope they were the first and last games this season because we have to learn. Sometimes, if we cannot win, we cannot lose. Of course, you can’t win every game all season, but we’ve already lost more points than we should have lost.
“It’s going to be a very big game. We know the situation in La Liga, for us, Atlético and Real Madrid, is very close so every game and every win for us is very important. We know if you want to be on top, we also have to beat Atlético.
“I hope we can show our best football and everything that has happened in these last games is done, we know we have to learn from them and now beat Atlético in our stadium is the most important thing – and coming back in the New Year in a good mood with three more points.”
Lewandowski’s love of esports
Lewandowski was speaking to CNN following the launch of his partnership with G2A, a marketplace for digital entertainment selling video game keys, subscriptions and more.
His passion for esports, in particular his love of Formula One, stems from the social aspect of gaming he has enjoyed since he was young. Even today, Lewandowski says he’ll spend much of his time gaming when friends go to visit him in Barcelona.
He adds that it is a form of mental relaxation, too, which temporarily takes his mind of the stress of a title race.
At 36, Lewandowski is still a kid at heart and when the team is on the road he says young teammates Lamine Yamal, 17, and Alejandro Balde, 21, always bring a portable console with them. And Lewandowski says he is always eager to join them when they play in the hotel or in between training sessions.
“We have so many young players that like to play Call of Duty – and I’m involved in playing with them as well,” he says.
“I always tell them: ‘Hey, guys, even if you think that I’m a little bit older, I have more experience than you playing video games!’ So even now I am one or two steps ahead.”
