There are few positions in FC Barcelona that have attracted as much commentary this season as the goalkeeper. So far, Inaki Pena has won the competition with Wojciech Szczęsny, but the balance of power has changed slightly after the Catalans' competition in the national cups. The Pole did make a mistake in… final Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid when he received a red card. However, apart from that, especially against Athletic Bilbao in the semi-final (2-0), he performed very well and forced the German to consider the positioning of the goalkeeper.
Flick played cat and mouse with the fans
Flick did not change his decision in La Liga and defended Pena against Getafe (1:1), but reports from Catalan journalists indicated that from now on, Wojciech Szczęsny may be the first choice in the Champions League. That's why the goalkeeper before the away goal Barcelona match against Benfica, Lisbon was quite a puzzle.
Happy in goal! What do the fans say?
The Catalan daily “Sport” decided to ask its readers, probably mostly Barcelona fans, what they think about Flick's decision. Specifically, the survey question was “Do you understand Flick's decision to put Szczęsny in the starting lineup?” To over 350 answers that respondents managed to provide before the start matchas much as 68 percent answered “yes”. This therefore shows that the red card from Real did not negatively affect Catalans' trust in Szczęsny.
Unfortunately, our representative did not repay this trust. On the contrary. Szczęsny capitulated already in the 2nd minute, although he could not do anything at that time. The next two goals for Benfica were his nightmare. In the 22nd minute, the Pole moved towards the ball outside the penalty area, but instead of hitting it, he hit Alejandro Balde, and Vangelis Pavlidis put the ball into the empty goal. A few minutes later, he gave a penalty kick, which Pavlidis also converted into a goal in the 30th minute, completing his hat-trick. The brutal reality hit our goalkeeper with full force.
Fortunately for the Pole, it did not cost Barcelona any points. The Catalans were losing 1:3 and 2:4, and yet after a phenomenal finish and a goal by Raphinha in added time, they won in Lisbon 5:4. Robert Lewandowski scored two goals from penalties.