If Barcelona clinch their first LaLiga title since 2019 at Espanyol this weekend, a large part of their success can legitimately be credited to Robert Lewandowski. The Poland striker is the league's top scorer with 19 goals, which represents 32% of Barca's scoring in the top flight this season. His winning goals against Mallorca and Valencia in 1-0 victories were crucial as Barca kept Real Madrid at bay earlier in the campaign, while he has scored twice or more in a game on five different occasions.

Lewandowski's arrival at Barca last July had raised some early doubts. No one questioned his excellent track record over a decade in Germany with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, but the transfer fee of €45 million for a player who was about to turn 34 did raise eyebrows, especially considering Barca's financial limitations. They had to sell club assets to fund last summer's splurge in the transfer market, including Lewandowski's contract.

Nine goals in his first seven league games blew those doubts away, though, as Lewandowski hit the ground running in Spain.

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Champions League disappointment followed but, aside from a couple of painful misses against his former side Bayern in Munich, Lewandowski did everything he could to keep Barca at Europe's top table. He netted five times in five games in the competition, including a brace against Inter which almost kept the Catalans alive at the expense of the Italians, who are now on the verge of a first final since 2010.

Yet as the league title draws closer — if Barca don't win it this weekend, their 13-point lead at the top with just five games to go dictates it is just a matter of time — there are arguably some fresh questions about Lewandowski's importance to the team. Scratch beneath the numbers — 29 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions — and there's a clear difference in his form before and after the World Cup.

So, what has happened? And should Barca be worried that one of their biggest earners, who turns 35 in August and is locked into a contract until 2026, has struggled to stay hot in 2023?