Lewy Still Goalless

Robert Lewandowski’s American adventure has not begun with a scoring show. According to Chicago Fire’s official match reports, the Polish striker played 63 minutes in a 3–2 debut defeat against Inter Miami before coming on at half-time in a 3–1 loss to New York City FC. His MLS record after 108 minutes: two appearances, zero goals and zero assists. (Inter Miami, NYCFC)

Somewhere in Barcelona, the official version of events is probably already being polished. Two goalless matches should be enough to present Lewandowski’s departure as another triumph of sporting vision. Never mind that he left after scoring 120 goals in four seasons and helping Barça reclaim the Spanish title. The only number that matters now is zero: he left, he has not scored, so Deco must have been ahead of the market once again.

Drawing serious conclusions after 108 minutes would obviously be ridiculous. Lewandowski arrived in Chicago with more than 700 goals for club and country, so his story is unlikely to end with two blank stat columns. Barça still cannot lose the narrative: if Robert struggles, the club was right to move him on. If he starts scoring, four years in Barcelona clearly prepared him to conquer America. Either way, the story delivers.