Barcelona superstar chasing historic goalscoring record this season | OneFootball

At 36 years old, Robert Lewandowski is on the verge of matching his best statistical season with FC Barcelona.

After converting a penalty against Rayo Vallecano on Monday night, the Polish forward has now netted 32 goals across all competitions, just one short of the 33 he scored in the 2022/23 campaign under Xavi Hernandez in his debut season at the club.

With that goal, he became the seventh-oldest player to score in La Liga and now has his sights set on breaking further records, joining the ranks of football’s greatest goal-scorers.

Lewandowski chasing history

Should Lewandowski finish as the top scorer in La Liga and win the Pichichi Trophy this season – he is currently three goals ahead of Kylian Mbappe – he would become the second-oldest player in La Liga history to win the top scorer award.

Only the legendary Ferenc Puskas would have done so at an older age, having scored 20 goals for Real Madrid in the 1963/64 season at 37 years old.

In achieving this feat, Lewandowski would surpass Karim Benzema (34) and Lionel Messi (33) while improving upon his own previous record, set when he won La Liga’s Pichichi award at 34 years old in his debut season.

Luca Toni holds the all-time record in Europe’s top five leagues

Among the top five European leagues, the oldest player to ever win a Golden Boot is Italian forward Luca Toni, who claimed the Capocannoniere title in Serie A with Hellas Verona in the 2014/15 season at the age of 38.

Behind him, Fabio Quagliarella and Cristiano Ronaldo also won Serie A’s top scorer title at 36, meaning Lewandowski, should he achieve the feat this season, would surpass them, as, by the time La Liga concludes on 25 May, he will be 36 years, nine months, and three days old.

Not slowing down. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Comparisons in Europe

When it comes to Ligue 1 in France, Delio Onnis holds the record as the oldest Golden Boot winner in Ligue 1 history, scoring 21 goals with Sporting Toulon Var in the 1983-84 season at the age of 36 years.

Meanwhile, in England, the oldest Premier League Golden Boot winner is Jamie Vardy, who scored 23 goals for Leicester City in the 2019/20 season at 33 years old.

Mohamed Salah, with 23 goals this season, is on course to claim the award and, at nearly 33 years old, could break into this exclusive club.

In the German Bundesliga, Lewandowski narrowly missed out on setting an age record. The current oldest Golden Boot winner is Martin Max, who scored 19 goals with 1860 Munich in 2001/02 at 33 years, eight months, and 26 days.

Lewandowski came within just four days of breaking this record in the 2021/22 season with Bayern Munich when he won the Golden Boot at 33 years, eight months, and 22 days.

If Lewandowski manages to finish as La Liga’s top scorer this season with Barcelona, he will solidify his place in football history as one of the oldest players to dominate the goalscoring charts in a major European league.

With a new contract until 2027 on the horizon, the Pole is not showing any signs of slowing down.