Lucas Barrios' Career Crashing and Burning Post-Borussia Dortmund
Spiralling downwards into insignificance, Lucas Barrios' career has never been the same since forfeiting his starting position at Borussia Dortmund to Robert Lewandowski.
Bittersweet short-lived ventures at Guangzhou Evergrande and Spartak Moscow (holds Barrios' playing rights) means he is in survival mode on loan at Montpellier.
| League Only 14-15 | Goals | Games | Shots Taken |
| Robert Lewandowski | 4 | 7 | 24 |
| Mario Balotelli | 0 | 5 | 23 |
| Lukas Jutkiewicz | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Gonzalo Higuain | 0 | 6 | 16 |
| Lucas Barrios | 0 | 6 | 7 |
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What veered Barrios' career in a Fernando Torres-like direction?
Fruitlessly chasing a lost cause in the waning minutes of the 2011 Copa America final.
Pulling up, Barrios skittishly massaged his hamstring, but the damage was done. He lasted seven minutes as a substitute in Paraguay's 3-0 defeat to Uruguay.
Providing live text commentary, Mohammed Ali at Goal.com made prescient comments as Barrios left the field: "Barrios' injury also has ramifications for Borussia Dortmund who may ask why he was sent on in the first place."
"The tear to [Barrios'] muscle fibres is a lot larger than we were told," Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp said, per Dortmund's official website (h/t ESPN FC). "This is very annoying and casts a shadow over our relationship with the Paraguayan Football Association."
Barrios' replacement was the inconsistent and unproven Lewandowski, who finished the previous season as Kicker's 104th-rated Bundesliga footballer.
| League Only 10-11 | Goals | Games | Shots Taken | Shots Per Goal |
| Lucas Barrios | 16 | 32 | 99 | 6.2 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 8 | 33 | 80 | 10 |
Klopp's initial impressions of Lewandowski were "lightweight," per Raphael Honigstein at Sports Illustrated: "Local papers described him [Lewandowski] as a 'Transferflop' and 'Chancentod' (the death of goal-scoring opportunities)."
By December of 2011, Barrios felt jittery as Lewandowski reached double digits in goals.
"Obviously Lucas is unhappy when he is not playing," said Dortmund managing director Hans-Joachim Watzke, per Bild (h/t Sky Sports). "I would prefer it if he were to stay, but if he does come to us and say he wants to go then we would have to talk about it."
| League Only 11-12 | Goals | Games | Shots Taken | Shots Per Goal |
| Lucas Barrios | 4 | 18 | 20 | 5 |
| Robert Lewandowski | 22 | 34 | 119 | 5.4 |
April 28, 2012: Barrios scores hat-trick in rare start during Dortmund's 5-2 win over Kaiserslautern.
May 2, 2012: Guangzhou Evergrande confirm Barrios' €8.5/£6.7 million move to China.
Kaiserslautern goalkeeper Tobias Sippel only made one save, and none of their centre-backs completed one tackle.
Barrios' hat-trick sealed the deal, and it is a classic example of confirmation bias.
Barrios' time at Evergrande was poignantly captured by Bernhard Zand at Der Spiegel:
"He [Barrios] earns nearly €130,000/£102,350 a week, [which is] more than most professional players in Germany's top division, the Bundesliga.
But Barrios is unhappy in China. "Three more years," he says and gazes again at the children in the park. "I don't know."
[...]
The match [against Shanghai Shenxin] didn't go well for Barrios.
Shortly before half-time, he grabbed his groin in pain [and was subbed off].
The final score was 5-1 for Evergrande, but the goals were scored by others:
"
- China's Gao Lin, purchased for €900,000/£708,500.
- Brazil's Muriqui, purchased for €3/£2.4 million.
- His fellow countryman Elkeson, purchased for €5.7/£4.5 million.
- Argentinian Dario Conca—transfer fee €8/£6.3 million, annual salary €7/£5.5 million.
Barrios was not at a Chinese Super League club that had mortgaged their future on his goals, thus would treat him like a king.
Evergrande manager Marcello Lippi simply rolled his eyes whenever Barrios was either injured or not in the right frame of mind to train, let alone play.
He was at Evergrande, the Real Madrid of Asian football, and was just another star on big wages.
"The reality is that the team is strong, and the manager [Lippi] doesn't use my services," Barrios said, per his official website (h/t Stephan Uersfeld and Will Unwin at ESPN FC). "My agents are talking with clubs in Germany, England and Spain."
Barrios failed to acclimatise to China and was to Evergrande what Torres was to Chelsea—a social loafer.
You know who is not a social loafer?
American basketball player Stephon Marbury.
He conforms to China, and most importantly, he is a two-time Chinese Basketball Association winner for the Beijing Ducks.
If Barrios embraced Chinese culture like Marbury—once a pariah for criticism in the United States but now treated as a demagogue in China—the Paraguayan would have succeeded at Evergrande.
August 10, 2013: Evergrande sold Barrios to Spartak Moscow for €7/£5.5 million.
"I went through a difficult period at Spartak," Barrios said, per Spox. "I started by getting injured and my replacement then played well. Football is like that."
It may have been difficult psychologically, but it was easy money.
Barrios has cost Spartak €3.5 million per league goal (2-16, goals-league games, hence why he was loaned out to Montpellier.
Letting out an abrupt burst of rage, Barrios seethed at Montpellier teammate Morgan Sanson for having the audacity to pass the ball to a wide-open Souleymane Camara in a 1-1 draw against Nice.
Barrios' unmasked emotions slant more toward desperation than that of an egomaniacal centre-forward, who once recorded a 0.92 goals-per-game average for Colo-Colo (49-53, goals-games).
Bogged down on a six-game goalless run in Ligue 1, Barrios' goals-per-game average is N/A.
While Lewandowski establishes himself as one of the greatest centre-forwards of his generation at Bayern Munich, Barrios will live out of a suitcase.
Statistics via WhoScored
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