Robert Lewandowski became Barcelona's oldest goalscorer in a Champions League knockout match when he registered against Napoli in the last-16 stage of the competition on Wednesday night.
The Poland international struck in the 60th minute of the first leg in Naples, collecting a pass from Pedri before finding the back of the net with an excellent finish.
Barcelona were the superior side on the night, but it finished 1-1 in Italy, with Victor Osimhen cancelling out Lewandowski's effort with a smart finish of his own in the 75th minute.
At the age of 35 years and 184 days old, Lewandowski passed the previous record which had been held by Lionel Messi, who had been Barcelona's oldest goalscorer in a Champions League knockout game courtesy of his effort against Paris Saint-Germain at the age of 33 years and 259 days old in March 2021.
Lewandowski has faced criticism for his performances at stages of the 2023-24 campaign, but he has now managed 18 goals and six assists in 34 appearances for the club this season.
"Lewandowski is a natural leader. He's in great form and he's scoring our goals. He's helping us a lot," Barcelona boss Xavi told reporters after the clash in Naples.
"I have a bittersweet feeling. We should have won the match, it was in our hands. We played well. In the first half they did not create a single chance. After we scored the goal, we lacked the pause and control of the game.
"What a shame. It's not a bad result, but we played much better. If we play like this in the second leg, we should be able to go through.
"Physically, Napoli are superior to us. They win more duels, but we competed well. This is the Champions League. When you concede like that, you draw a match that you should have won.
"Napoli played a great match and they made it difficult for us. We'll see in the return leg. We will have our fans, which goes in our favour. Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals."
Meanwhile, Lewandowski added after the match: "I think we played a good game in the half, where we should have scored one or two goals. After our goal we played a little defensively and they scored on us with the first opportunity they had.
"I feel very good, we need time to get ready, we have a lot of potential. We have two long weeks to work and prepare for the future.
"We want to take a step forward in the team. It is important with my experience to be able to help these players."
Barcelona will be bidding to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to six matches when they host Getafe in La Liga on Saturday afternoon. body check tags ::
