It took more than initially expected, but Barça has achieved the goal of adding three very important points in La Liga after defeating Alavés. They did it by the minimum, 1-0, taking advantage of a solitary goal by Lewandowski, who scored on a rebound inside the area. This means that, after Real Madrid's stumble, the distance with the competition leader has been reduced to four points and with a Madrid classic just around the corner.
This match against Alavés was a duel of grinding and seeking opportunities where it seemed impossible to find them. From the first moment, the babazorro team was wasting time, proposing absolutely nothing and sitting back, going hard on the tackle. They took advantage of the referee's permissiveness at Montjuïc, allowing Coudet's team to play hard throughout the match.
It wasn't until the 61st minute that Barça managed to take the lead on the scoreboard in this tough match. Thanks to Lewandowski, the culers managed to add the three points despite the visible difficulties posed by Alavés. Hansi Flick had to make changes after a very low-level first half, Eric and De Jong came for Araújo and Casadó, resulting positively with a better image in the second half.
Barça defeats Alavés and Lewandowski sends a message to Mbappé: "I'm..."
Having scored the only goal of the match, Lewandowski achieved his goal of continuing to extend his lead in the race for the Pichichi. With this one against Alavés, he has now scored 18 goals in the 22 rounds that have been played so far in La Liga.
Taking advantage of Mbappé's scoreless match against Espanyol, Lewandowski has increased his lead by three goals, with the Frenchman remaining at 15. The truth is that the Barça forward's message is clear and forceful in the race for the Pichichi: "I'm here". A "don't count me out" that everyone at Montjuïc could see.
After his hat-trick against Valladolid, many people took the opportunity to assume that Mbappé would surpass Robert in the race to become Spain's top scorer. However, the gap has now widened in favor of Lewandowski. He was key to defeating Alavés and has earned his particular reward.