Article by Aurelian Botezatu – Published Tuesday, 06 January 2026, 12:43 / Updated Tuesday, 06 January 2026 12:52
Robert Lewandowski is the “father” of the Barça dressing room. At 37, he is the team's most experienced footballer and has unwittingly taken on this important role in a group full of youngsters, where the average age is just over 25, but with stars under 20.
In an appearance on the 'High Performance' podcast, the Polish forward touched on several topics, including the death of his father when the current Barcelona player was just 16. Krzysztof Lewandowski, the Blaugrana striker's father, was a judo champion and footballer in his country's second division.
His father died of a stroke when Robert was just a teenager, an event that forced him to mature much faster.
“I didn't continue with judo because the Olympic Games are once every 4 years”
“He helped me a lot with judo, but he didn't want me to go that way because you only have the Olympics, which are every four years. I lost him when I was 16 and it was very hard for me. I wasn't ready to become a man and suddenly, overnight, I had to become the man of the family and of life. No one had taught me to be. After that, I had many things on my mind, not only about football, but also about aspects of life that I could no longer discuss with my father“, explained Lewandowski, quoted by sport.es.
Robert Lewandowski, with the trophy dedicated to the best scorer, together with the president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta (left) / Photo: Imago
“Even though my mother tried everything, there are things you want to talk about with another man, and I was left without the person I could do that with, who could explain to me what to expect in life, in football, at the club, in training, in everything. When I go out on the field, I know that my father is watching me from the best place and supporting me. My first goals in every team I've played for are for him“, added the striker.
The peak of the attack reached the Barcelona camp in 2022, when the Spaniards paid Bayern Munich the sum of 45 million euros. He is the top scorer in the history of the Polish national team, with 88 goals scored in 163 matches.
