Robert Lewandowski responds to claims he IGNORED Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal, after footage appeared to show the striker rejecting a high-five from his team-mate during 2-1 LaLiga win over Alaves

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Robert Lewandowski appeared to reject a high-five from Lamine Yamal
He has responded to claims that he deliberately ignored his team-mate
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By Sam Brookes For Mailonline

Published: 09:58 GMT, 14 November 2023 | Updated: 10:00 GMT, 14 November 2023

Robert Lewandowski has hit back at claims he deliberately ignored Barcelona team-mate Lamine Yamal during Sunday's 2-1 LaLiga win against Alaves.

Footage has emerged of an incident from the game where 16-year-old wonderkid Yamal cut inside and decided to shoot rather than laying the ball off to Lewandowski who was waiting unmarked inside the penalty area.

After Yamal's shot was turned behind for a corner, he went to give Lewandowski a high-five but the Polish striker appeared to reject the gesture. Yamal seemed confused by his team-mate turning his back on him, and was seen looking back over his shoulder at Lewandowski to try to understand why he may have upset him.

Lewandowski has received some criticism from fans for not showing support to a player almost two decades younger than him, but he has denied that it was a deliberate act.

'Ignoring Lamine Yamal? There is nothing to comment on, it was a total accident,' he said after joining up with Poland for international duty.

Robert Lewandowski appeared to reject a high-five from Lamine Yamal on the weekend

Yamal seemed surprised by the apparent rejection as Lewandowski looked into the distance

Lewandowski has claimed that ignoring Yamal during Sunday's game was a 'total accident'

He did appear to admit that he had been frustrated with Yamal, though, as he added: 'Sometimes I shout during a match, but that's normal.'

Lewandowski entered Sunday's match having failed to score in any of his previous six appearances for Xavi's side.

However, he ended his goal drought by netting twice in the second half as Barcelona recovered from conceding in the first minute to pick up a much-needed win and move to within two points of rivals Real Madrid, while they are a further two behind surprise leaders Girona.

Having finally found the back of the net again and attempted to put to bed rumours of a feud with Yamal, Lewandowski will now turn his attention to Poland's final qualifying match for Euro 2024.

Poland are currently third in Group E behind Albania and Czech Republic. They host the latter nation on Friday, knowing they must win to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive.