Barcelona look to continue their attacking play led by Poland’s top scorer Robert Lewandowski as they take on last-place finishers Cadiz in La Liga Five as Real Madrid kick off a period that lasts several weeks due to the absence of their best player. scorer and captain of the French national team Karim Benzema is injured.

After a negative draw in the first leg of the current season, Barcelona hit hard in the next four matches in all competitions, scoring 16 goals, half of which were signed by Lewandowski, including 5 in the local league and three against Viktoria Pilsen. at the start of his team’s Champions League campaign.

With this trio, Lewandowski became the first player to score a “hat-trick” in the Champions League with three different teams (Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich, ex-Germans).

Kadesh could be an easy target for Lewandowski to add goals, especially since he lost his four domestic matches and didn’t score a single goal.

Xavi may resort to resting some first-tier players, especially as he faces a tough test against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena next week in the second round of the Champions League.

On the other hand, Real Madrid, the defending champions of last season, who had a great start with four wins in a row, are starting a period of time in the absence of Benzema, a strong candidate for the Ballon d’Or of the best player of 2022, due to a muscle injury. which he received during his wide team’s 3-0 victory over Celtic, Scotland. At the last home and he will keep him out of the stadiums for the rest of this month.

Responsibility for the goals scored will fall on the Brazilian duo of Vinicius Junior and Rodrigo and the Belgian striker Eden Hazard.

Vinicius, who scored the only goal for his team against Liverpool when he became European champion last season, scored 4 goals in his team’s last four games and commented saying: “I hope to become a legend at this club.”

He added: “I can stay here for a long time and set records, as Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric did before me.”

And whether he considers himself among the best players in the world now, he replied: “I leave this answer to others. I feel like I’m in the right place at the moment, but I keep my humbleness and calmness.”

Player in the spotlight: Antoine Griezmann

Atlético Madrid’s French striker Antoine Griezmann has been eligible to play as a substitute in all of his team’s matches since the start of the current season. Griezmann managed to give his team a valuable win at the start of his continental Champions League campaign when, in the 101st minute, he scored the winning goal against Porto in a 2–1 win. The goal was Griezmann’s third in 138 minutes. played this season.

Regarding the number of minutes that Argentine coach Diego Simeone gave him, the French World Cup winner replied: “You have to ask the coach. I am here to do my job. All I can do is get involved and make a difference.” “

Numbers and statistics

0 – the number of goals conceded by Villarreal this season. They are the only team in the top five leagues to have achieved this.

15 is the number of matches Valladolid didn’t win before taking their first win since this series against Almería 1-0 last Monday.

651: The number of days between two goals scored by Belgian Eden Hazard in the Champions League after the third goal against Celtic. The last goal Hazard scored in the Champions League before this was a penalty against Inter on November 25, 2020.