The 'LRL' is back: Lamine, Raphinha, and Lewandowski, starters against Alavés

FC Barcelona hosts Alavés this Saturday at the Spotify Camp Nou for a festive occasion. The club celebrates its 126th anniversary at home and does so with its stellar offensive trident back in the XI. The 'LRL', made up of Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, and Robert Lewandowski, starts against the Vitoria-based team for the first time in 2025/26

The plague of injuries in the squad prevented Hansi Flick from having his three most lethal forwards in his lineup for the first 18 games of the season. 'Lewy' suffered a couple of muscle injuries, while Lamine has dealt with osteitis pubis since the end of August. Rapha, in addition, was out for two months after a right thigh injury that he relapsed from on a couple of occasions.

In 2024/25, Flick's Barça scored 173 goals. 54.53% were accounted for by the 'LRL', thanks to the 42 goals scored by Lewandowski, 34 by Raphinha, and 18 goals scored by Lamine. 94 goals from a trident that managed to emulate what the mythical 'MSN', formed by Leo Messi, Luis Suárez, and Neymar Jr., achieved a decade ago.

Including each player's assists (23 for Lamine, another 23 for Rapha, and 3 for 'Lewy'), the Barça attacking trident participated in 82.65% of the team's goals in all competitions (143). A true, unparalleled madness in Europe.

The 'LRL' returns to the Barça XI after 188 days

Barça, although they missed their star trident this season, have maintained a similar scoring average so far. The Catalans have scored 36 goals in 13 LaLiga matchdays and another 12 in 5 Champions League encounters, meaning 48 goals in 18 games. The average remains at 2.66 goals per match, slightly lower than that of 24/25 (2.88).

The last time the 'LRL' lineup coincided on the field from the start was on matchday 38 of the previous LaLiga season. In the 0-3 victory against Athletic at San Mamés, Lewandowski scored a brace to reach his centenary goal tally with Barça. Dani Olmo, from a penalty, sealed the win in a match where Raphinha provided an assist, his 23rd of the season, to equal Lamine as the team's leader

Raphinha, starting for the first time since the visit to Oviedo

Rapha, this season, **has scored 3 goals and provided 2 assists in 9 appearances**. The Brazilian had not started since the victory against Oviedo on September 25 (1-3), the day he suffered the injury to his right hamstring that kept him out for two months.The '11' played against Athletic (9 minutes) and Chelsea (28') and is looking for his first goal since matchday 4 against Valencia (6-0). That day he scored a brace coming off the bench.

Lamine Yamal seeks to extend his notable offensive streak in LaLiga

Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski celebrate Barça's second goal against Real Sociedad (2-1)

Lamine Yamal, for his part, is coming off two assists in the thrashing against Athletic (4-0). Although the '10' could not score for the third consecutive league game (fourth including the Champions League), he is going through his best moment in the tournament.The Mataró player has accumulated six consecutive starts after missing four games due to his pubis discomfort. In that period, he has scored 2 goals and provided 3 assists, regaining his usual explosiveness on the wing. He didn't have his best night against Chelsea, so he will be looking to have a stellar game against Alavés.

Lewandowski repeats in the XI for the fourth consecutive match

In Lewandowski's case, the Pole also comes into the duel against the Vitoria team on a scoring streak. The Pole scored a 'hat-trick' against Celta (2-4) and also had the pleasure of scoring Barcelona's first goal at the revamped Spotify Camp Nou. After a slow start to the season, the '9' now has 8 goals in the league and is on track for his fifth consecutive start.

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