With upcoming battles against Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Barça were dealt a huge blow as Robert Lewandowski suffered a hamstring injury.
Lewandowski suffered the injury in Saturday’s LaLiga matchup in their 4-3 victory over Celta Vigo. He was substituted at the 78th minute, and Barça would end up completing the comeback via Raphinha’s penalty in the 98th minute as they look to win their first league title since the 2022-23 season.
The club confirmed that the Polish international suffered a hamstring injury but did not state how much time he will miss.
Barcelona to miss Robert Lewandowski for El Clasico
It could not have come at a worse time for the Blaugrana, as not only do they have pivotal matches coming up, but the 36-year-old striker has been in immense form.
This season, in 48 matches across all competitions, Lewandowski has found the back of the net 40 times. Under Hansi Flick, who managed the striker at Bayern Munich, he has vastly improved his play since last season, when he only scored 26 goals, his lowest since the 2014-15 season (25 goals).
Barça face Los Blancos on April 26 in the Copa del Rey final. It is an opportunity to best their fiercest rivals in another final, having defeated them in the Supercopa de España back in January.
In addition, their first leg in the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan, the reigning champions of Serie A, is on Wednesday, April 30. The second leg, which will be held at the legendary San Siro, will be on Tuesday, May 6.
As for LaLiga matches, Barça will have two in that span when they host Mallorca (April 22) and travel to relegation candidate Real Valladolid (May 3).
In a season where the club can achieve a quintuple, it is the worst timing to lose your precious No. 9. It also does not help that Barça does not have a direct replacement for Lewandowski, so it should be interesting to see how Flick manages this situation.