After his suspension for an incident against Osasuna last month was upheld, Robert Lewandowski will find it “painful” to watch Barcelona’s following three matches from the stands.
Lewandowski, a player for Poland, received two yellow cards in the opening period of Barca’s 2-1 victory at El Sadar on November 8—the final game before the World Cup break.
Lewandowski was given an extended three-game suspension by the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for allegedly making a gesture toward referee Gil Manzano after being sent off.
Lewandowski questioned the severity of the punishment after it was revealed on Friday that Barca’s most recent appeal against the suspension was denied.
Lewandowski’s statement
“It’s difficult because I feel that three games is too much for what I did, that’s for sure,” he told Sport. “It’s painful not to be able to play three games because of that.”
Lewandowski, a former striker for Bayern Munich, insists that the action that got him into trouble was actually directed at Xavi, the team’s head coach.
“Nothing happened with the ref,” Lewandowski said. “The reason I got three matches was nothing to do with the referee, it was to do with me and the coach. That’s all I can say.
“One or two weeks before, I had a chat with Xavi, and he told me that I had to watch out if the referee gave me a yellow card.
“That was just a gesture to express he couldn’t understand what was going on. We had talked about it, and it was something between Xavi and me. I didn’t understand anything.”
Only Kylian Mbappe (19) and Erling Haaland (24) among players from Europe’s top five leagues have scored more goals this season than Lewandowski’s 18 in 19 games.
The 34-year-old has maintained his prolific goal-scoring form in a new nation and is looking forward to adding to his trophy haul while living in Catalonia.
“I will stay at Barcelona as long as I am fit and hungry for titles,” he said. “We have to have the mentality of a champion.”
Barcelona’s LaLiga season begins with matches against Espanyol and Atletico Madrid, followed by a Copa del Rey round-of-32 match against Intercity.
