Robert Lewandowski’s scintillating hat-trick within 26 minutes propelled Barcelona to a resounding 3-0 victory over Alaves on Sunday, extending their lead at the summit of La Liga to three points over Real Madrid.
The Polish marksman, who has now netted 10 goals in just nine league appearances, opened the scoring with a towering header from Raphinha’s free-kick. The Brazilian winger, who has been in exceptional form this season, then set up Lewandowski for his second with a pinpoint cross.
Before the break, Lewandowski completed his hat-trick with a clinical finish after being played through by Eric Garcia. The veteran striker’s goalscoring prowess has been instrumental in Barcelona’s impressive start to the campaign under new manager Hansi Flick.
“I get a lot of good passes and so it’s easier for me to score goals,” Lewandowski said after the match. “Today in the first half we played well from the first minute, we wanted to attack and score goals.”
Barcelona dominated the match from start to finish, with Lewandowski and Raphinha proving to be a constant threat to the Alaves defense. The hosts had a goal ruled out for offside before the break, and they continued to be frustrated in the second half as Barcelona maintained their control.
“In front of goal (Lewandowski) is the best player, for me,” Flick said. “It’s amazing to score so many goals over such a period… I’m really happy with him and you can see he’s 100 percent fit, it’s perfect at the moment.”
The victory extends Barcelona’s unbeaten run in La Liga to eight matches, with seven wins and one draw. They will look to continue their impressive form when they host Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
