Barcelona narrowly escaped an embarrassing home defeat to Alaves, thanks to Robert Lewandowski’s two crucial goals. The Polish striker equalized with a header in the 53rd minute before sealing a late 2-1 victory for the Catalan giants with a converted penalty.
The match kicked off on a disastrous note for Barcelona, with Alaves striker Samu scoring just 18 seconds into the game. The 19-year-old had several opportunities to extend the lead in a dominant first-half performance against a struggling Barcelona side missing key players Gavi and Frenkie De Jong.
Barcelona found their rhythm in the second half, with Lewandowski scoring from a Jules Kounde cross. The home team intensified the pressure on Alaves in search of a winner, and it eventually came through Lewandowski’s composed 78th-minute penalty after Ferran Torres was fouled in the box.
Despite the unconvincing performance, Barcelona’s manager Xavi remains under pressure following recent defeats to Real Madrid and Shakhtar Donetsk. However, the heroics of Lewandowski have given Barcelona renewed hope as they live to fight another day.
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