Robert Lewandowski ‘not happy’ with Barcelona’s Champions League exit but urges patience for ‘evolving’ team

Robert Lewandowski says he didn’t expect his debut season with Barcelona to be a major success due to the rebuilding job required at the club.

The Poland international has hit the ground running since making a summer switch from Bayern Munich, scoring 18 goals in 17 games in all competitions.

However, Lewandowski’s individual brilliance wasn’t enough to stop Barcelona from crashing out of the Champions League at the group stage.

Their early elimination, confirmed last week when Inter Milan thrashed Viktoria Plzen and Barca lost 3-0 at home to Bayern, was a disastrous outcome for the Spanish club as they battle financial issues.

But Lewandowski insists he wasn’t naive about the situation before making the move to Camp Nou.

“We are evolving. I did not expect to arrive and that everything would go well in the first season,” the 34-year-old told La Vanguardia.

“I insist, it is a process that requires time and patience.”

Barca have picked up just four points from five games in the Champions League this season and will drop into the Europa League for the second campaign in a row.

Things have gone a little better in La Liga, where Xavi’s side are one point behind leaders Real Madrid, but a 3-1 Clasico defeat to their rivals earlier this month was a disappointment.

“Obviously I’m not happy, Barcelona should be in the last 16. Before coming to Barcelona I was already aware that the first season could be harder than it should be,” said Lewandowski.

“We are in a process of reconstruction that needs time, we have to be more patient.”

He added: “We have to face some situations with more intelligence, in football sometimes you have to know how to win and not how to play to win, and that’s what has happened to us. But these things make us stronger for the future.”

“With everything that Barca have suffered in recent years, you cannot expect everything to change in a month. It needs time and it will no doubt improve.”

Barca travel to Viktoria Plzen in their final Champions League group game on Tuesday.