“He’s not the same as last year” - Fabio Capella names Barcelona star who is ‘failing’ Xavi at the moment

Former Real Madrid manager and coaching great Fabio Capello has criticized Barcelona's star striker Robert Lewandowski for his under-par performances this season.

The Italian manager also coached Juventus and England, but is most famous for leading AC Milan to a 4-0 demolition of Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League final.

In an interview with Marca, Capello talked about how Lewandowski has been a shadow of himself this season. He said:

"Lewandowski is failing him (manager Xavi) a little bit, he's not the same as last year, and that's important. There are few centre-forwards. Haaland is a player who improves every year, because he is young; but Lewandowski this year is not playing at the level we know him to. And that's a problem.”

Having finished as the La Liga golden boot winner with 23 goals in 34 games last season, big things were expected of Lewandowski in 2023/24. However, the Pole has had a big drop off in form by his own standards, only netting 12 times in 27 games across all competitions and failing to turn up on the big occasions.

Capello also went on to brand Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti as "the best in the world," for achieving success with every squad that he has ever worked with. He said:

"It's very difficult to win as much as Carlo has won. He goes to Germany and wins, he goes to England and wins, in Italy he goes and it's not that he wins, it's that it's a miracle what he does."

Barcelona have already lost the Spanish Super Cup final and are languishing in third place in La Liga. Xavi really needs Lewandowski to regain his 2022/23 form if the Catalans are to recover from their poor start to the season.

---

Barcelona monitoring situation of 17-year-old Brazilian starlet

Barcelona are keeping an eye on the situation of Brazilian defensive wonderkid Rafael Venancio, reports The Athletic's Mario Cortegana.

The 17-year-old was called up to the Corinthians' senior squad only last weekend, indicating their belief in his immense potential. He started out as an attacker, but was moved to left-back, and has now transformed himself into a gifted left-footed left-sided centreback.

According to Cortegana, Barcelona's scouts have positive reports on the youngster. Venancio has also been likened to Robert Renan, another young defensive prospect who was linked with Real Madrid not too long ago.

However, Barca are not the only European club chasing Venancio's signature. Portuguese giants FC Porto are also heavily scouting the young defender, and could rival Barca for a potential move.

Barcelona have already added a young Brazilian talent in Vitor Roque this January, and have also been linked with a €60 milion move for Palmeiras' young winger Estevao Willian. With the youth taking over at Xavi's Barca, the Brazilian flair could be just that extra oomph the Blaugrana need.