The Polish star of Barcelona has missed the last three La Liga matches, giving Kylian Mbappe the opportunity to overtake him in the race for the top scorer title.

Lewandowski wants to make up for lost time. Hansi Flick, Barcelona’s head coach, confirmed in a pre-derby press conference that Lewandowski is in ideal condition to play, though he did not specify whether he would start. The Polish striker missed the last three La Liga matches due to injury, and Kylian Mbappe took advantage of his absence by scoring a hat-trick in El Clasico, snatching the top spot in La Liga’s scoring charts.

Lewandowski could have played against Real Madrid, but the truth is that after recovering from his muscle injury, he is still far from his best form—as was evident in the 30 minutes he played against Inter at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.

This Polish striker will fight for the top scorer title until the end of the season, and his teammates will likely help him win the competition’s top scorer award for the second time since joining Barcelona. Lewa missed the Copa del Rey final and El Clasico, so he is expected to be in excellent condition for today’s derby against Espanyol.

Beyond the effort to close the gap in the race for the top scorer award, Lewandowski’s main goal is to reach his 100th goal for Barcelona. This milestone has eluded him, as he scored his 99th goal last April in the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Borussia Dortmund.

Lewandowski has scored 40 goals this season, bringing his total to 99 goals in his first two seasons with Barcelona (33 in his first season and 26 in his second). His 99 goals for Barcelona are distributed as follows: 67 in La Liga, 19 in the Champions League, 7 in the Copa del Rey, 5 in the Spanish Super Cup, and 1 in the Europa League, across 140 matches.

Espanyol is a suitable opponent for reaching this dream number, as Lewandowski scored two goals against them two seasons ago when Barcelona won the title.