The football train continues, and we are steamrolling our way to the World Cup. In this last POTM award before the pause for the winter tournament, we’ve been spoilt for choice for our POTM selection, with goal scorers, shot stoppers and assist kings all putting forward a claim to hold the award throughout the extended pause.

Our selection has been a regular feature of the POTM European awards since we started, and is actually making his 3rd appearance as our selection, from his days at Bayern Munich, and now Barcelona, where the goals keep on coming. With 7 goals and 2 assists in his 9 appearances for Barcelona across La Liga and Champions League games, he has been pivotal in what has admittedly been a disappointing month for the Spanish side.

If you have anything to add to our NextGoalWinner POTM decision, or disagree with our pick, head over to Twitter (@NextGoalWinBlog) and let us know what you think.

Match By Match

October 1st: Mallorca 0-1 Barcelona – Kicking the month off with a win, Barcelona nabbed a fairly comfortable win over Mallorca, thanks to new talisman Lewandowski. With the Polish international bagging the winner on the 20th minute mark, things were smooth sailing for the remainder. Lewandowski had a solid game, with his goal contributing to an 8.0/10 FotMob rating. A solid start to the month for the impressive striker.

October 4th: Inter Milan 1-0 Barcelona – Things in Europe have been a disaster for Barcelona in October, and they were beaten by Inter a few days into the month. Lewandowski failed to have any impact on the game, playing a poor game with little influence. Despite maintaining 100% shot accuracy, 82% pass accuracy and 100% tackle success, he struggled to get involved in any clear cut chances and managed an individual xG of just 0.05.

October 9th: Barcelona 1-0 Celta Vigo – Returning to Spain, Barcelona kept their league run going as they edged past Celta Vigo. As they again scored early, they shut up shop and settled with the 3 points despite Celta Vigo having a few good chances. Lewandowski struggled to get on the ball, having the least touches of any player to play 90 minutes (27), but with a win to keep their title hopes alive I’m sure they won’t mind too much.

October 12th: Barcelona 3-3 Inter Milan – In the second meeting between Barcelona and Inter, this one was much more dramatic and important for Barca’s future in the Champions League. With Inter looking to have claimed another win, Lewandowski made it 2-2 in the 82nd minute, before Inter again took a lead, only to be pinned back in the final minute of the match with another Lewandowski strike. a 9.1/10 man of the match performance, he netted twice, won the most duels (11), had a total of 8 shots, created 2 chances, 1 big chance and had a 100% tackle success. Although a result that favours neither, Lewandowski had hit a solid bit of form just before El Classico.

October 16th: Real Madrid 3-1 Barcelona – Real Madrid took the spoils in this Classico, however Lewandowski did provide the assist for Barcelona’s goal late in the game. It was another poor showing from Barcelona, and Lewandowski again struggled to get involved in the game, having the least touches again (40).

October 20th: Barcelona 3-0 Villarreal – Putting the world to rights a bit in the next 2 La Liga games, Lewandowski scored another brace, this time in the league against Villarreal who fell victim to a vengeful Barcelona. It was the Polish strikers second man of the match performance and a big result which set Barca up for a decent closing to the month.

October 23rd: Barcelona 4-0 Athletico Bilbao – This form continued as Lewandowski scored and assisted another in this 4-0 hammering of Bilbao. Playing just over 60 minutes with Xavi opting to keep his legs fresh for the Champions League, he was heavily involved as Barcelona took a first half 3-0 lead to secure the win early.

October 26th: Barcelona 0-3 Bayern Munich – In a game that just about sealed the fate of Barcelona in this seasons Champions League, they were hammered by the strikers former club Bayern. He was once again zoned out of the game and Bayern were in control from the outset. Despite needing to get something from the game, Barcelona and Lewandowski were lacking in any clear chances to dent Bayern and they were all but done in this seasons competition.

October 29th: Valencia 0-1 Barcelona – Finishing a strong individual month, but perhaps a poor club month, Lewandowski nabbed the winner away at Valencia. His 3rd man of the match performance with a last minute winner keeps Barcelona’s chances in La Liga their main opportunity for success this season, and with Lewandowski able to score at any time, they stand a great chance in La Liga.