Lewandowski robbed outside Barcelona training ground

The footballer was on his way to training when the incident occurred.

FC Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski has become the latest victim of petty crimes that unfortunately, the Catalan capital is notorious for. On Thursday, the Polish star was robbed right in front of the Ciudad Deportiva Joan Gamper just before he went in to join his new teammates for an afternoon training session.

According to a report from Marca, Lewandowski was driving into the facility and decided to stop and greet the fans that were gathered outside. This is not an unusual scenario as visitors often wait for players to come in and out of the venue so that they can take pictures.

However, to the striker's surprise, one of the "fans" suddenly opened his passenger side door. Unverified reports claim that a watch worth 70,000 euros was then taken from inside the vehicle.

Police was called to the scene and fortunately, the perpetrator was arrested and the watch was recovered. There were contrasting reports that mentioned a stolen mobile phone as well, but that has since been debunked.

No one was reported to have been hurt, and Lewandowski was able to train normally with his teammates after the crime was dealt with by law enforcement. The Polish star is expected to start on Sunday, when the Blaugrana face Real Sociedad in La Liga.

Barcelona's Ciudad Deportiva has been in the news a number of times this summer due to incidents involving fans and their behaviour towards players. At the height of the Manchester United transfer saga, midfielder Frenkie de Jong was subjected to abuse as he was leaving the training ground.

Nevertheless, incidents of this nature is not unique to Barcelona alone. Gareth Bale was often heckled on his way in and out of Real Madrid facilities in the past. Just some weeks ago, Lewandowski also experienced some heckling as he left Bayern Munich facilities in Germany when he bid the club farewell after joining Barcelona.

However, verbal abuse is one thing, and theft is another. Barcelona is one of the cities in Europe with the highest crime rates especially during the summer season when there are a lot of tourists. Earlier this week, news cameras even managed to film a robbery in progress during a feature on one of Barcelona's famous beaches.