Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has suffered a hamstring injury, marking him as a major doubt for the first El Clásico of the season.
The defending La Liga champions announced on Tuesday afternoon that the 37-year-old sustained a muscle tear in the biceps femoris of his left thigh. The news comes after Lewandowski played 90 minutes in Poland’s 2–0 win over Lithuania on Sunday.
Barcelona did not specify the severity of the injury, but The Athletic report that Lewandowski is expected to be sidelined for about a month. The reported timeline rules the forward out of the Catalans’ trip to the Santiago Bernabéu on Oct. 26.
Lewandowski missed the start of the 2025–26 campaign with a muscle injury and now is headed back to the treatment room less than two months later. Despite his fitness struggles this season, the Poland international told TVP Sport his age is not hindering his form.
“I don’t want to say I’m a victim of my age, but there are people who know how to take advantage of it, but I feel very good,” Lewandowski said while representing his country during the October international window.
“Obviously, I don’t expect to play 90 minutes in every game, or I see football a little differently, but once on the pitch, I know I can handle it, and it doesn’t make a huge difference because I’m still physically fit in training, I still excel. It’s not like I disappear in training, so in that sense, I feel like I still have a lot to give.”
Barcelona, Flick Under Pressure Amid Injury Crisis
Although Lewandowski saw his minutes at Barcelona dwindle in the last few months, he is still a key piece of Flick’s attack that will now be unavailable for the foreseeable future. The No. 9 has already found the back of the net four times in La Liga this season, following his 27-goal haul from 2024–25.
Lewandowski joins a long list of injured Barcelona players ahead of the biggest game there is in Spain. Dani Olmo, Raphinha, Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Fermín López, Joan García and Marc-André ter Stegen are all currently sidelined with various ailments.
Marc Bernal and Ferran Torres also withdrew from international duty, but the two players’ problems are not thought to be serious.
Still, Flick will be without many of his best players come Barcelona’s clash with Real Madrid. The pressure will be on the German boss to continue his perfect streak against Los Blancos after winning all four games that were contested last season.
Depending on player availability come El Clásico time, Flick might have to deploy Marcus Rashford as a No. 9, a tactic the manager is reportedly considering amid the Catalans’ struggles.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Suffer Devastating Injury Blow Ahead of El Clasico.
