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Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has equaled Cristiano Ronaldo's unique record in the Champions League. The Polish marksman scored two penalties in the Blaugrana's 5-4 win over Benfica at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon yesterday (January 21).
It was a topsy-turvy match, filled with huge defensive and goalkeeping errors that saw a total of nine goals. Goalkeepers Anatoliy Trubin and Wojciech Szczesny made the headlines with one of the worst games of their respective careers. However, football statistics giants Opta put the limelight on Robert Lewandowski.
Prior to the match, the 36-year-old striker had scored 17 penalties in the UEFA Champions League. According to Opta (via ysscores), his brace against Benfica has now given him a total of 19 penalties in the competition, passing Lionel Messi's record of 18 penalties.
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Lewandowski has also equaled Cristiano Ronaldo's record, with the Real Madrid legend picking up 19 penalties during his time in Europe. It is worth noting, however, that the Polish marksman has a long way to go before reaching other Ronaldo records.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored the most goals in the UEFA Champions League - a stunning 140 to his name. While Barcelona legend Lionel Messi comes in second place with 129 goals, Robert Lewandowski sits in faraway third with 103 goals.
When Barcelona rejected signing Cristiano Ronaldo
Back in 2003, Barcelona had the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the Blaugrana went on to reject the offer. At the time, the young teenager was at Sporting CP, where he was still a raw, but exciting winger.
Club president Joan Laporta opened up about the offer in 2016, admitting (via OneFootball):
“We were in a process of reconstruction. Cristiano was at Sporting CP and he was close to signing for United. The player’s agent said ‘I’ve got another really good player who’s called Cristiano Ronaldo'.”
Rather than Ronaldo, Barcelona went on to sign players like Ronaldinho, Ricardo Quaresma and Rafael Marquez.
The mercurial winger-turned-striker would go on to play for Manchester United, instead. There, under Sir Alex Ferguson, he grew into one of the best players in the world, winning the Ballon d'Or before moving to Barca's eternal rivals Real Madrid.
The Blaugrana will wish they had signed him in order to cement their dominance in Spain and Europe. However, he played a total of 34 games against them, scoring 20 goals and providing three assists.
