‘If Iñaki had made mistakes’… Former Polish footballer critical of fellow countryman’s display at Barcelona | OneFootball

‘If Iñaki had made mistakes’… Former Polish footballer critical of fellow countryman’s display at Barcelona | OneFootball

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·28 gennaio 2025

‘If Iñaki had made mistakes’… Former Polish footballer critical of fellow countryman’s display at Barcelona

Immagine dell'articolo:‘If Iñaki had made mistakes’… Former Polish footballer critical of fellow countryman’s display at Barcelona

The goalkeeping situation at FC Barcelona has been full of twists and turns this season. The Blaugranes started the season with Marc-André ter Stegen firmly established as the starting goalkeeper of the first team.

However, his season was cut short by a serious injury in the patellar tendon, and he will not be able to take to the field again till the next summer.


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With ter Stegen’s injury, the Catalans had Iñaki Peña in their squad to cover for him, but they also decided to bring in Wojciech Szczęsny to have another experienced option available in the squad.

At that time there were doubts about which of these two shot-stoppers would be the starter for Hansi Flick, and the German clearly decided to bet on the academy graduate. Szczęsny was not able to make his first appearance in a Barcelona shirt till the start of 2025, when he played in the Copa del Rey match against UD Barbastro.

However, things changed significantly for him in the Spanish Super Cup, as Flick punished Peña for arriving late to a team talk by replacing him with the Pole in the starting lineup for the match against Athletic Club.

The Pole then continued to retain his place in the final against Real Madrid, and he has also been the starter for most Barcelona games since then.

Szczęsny has, however, made some costly mistakes during this period. These include a red card against Real Madrid, as well as two poor moments against Benfica—first colliding with Balde to concede a silly goal, and then giving away a penalty to the Portuguese side.

He also conceded a penalty against Valencia, although it was later overturned due to a prior foul by José Gayà on Koundé. As a result, the Polish goalkeeper has faced significant criticism recently.

As SPORT has reported, this criticism has also been coming from his home country, as the former Polish footballer and the former President of the Polish Football Association, Zbigniew Boniek, highlighted his mistakes and struggles.

The former footballer commented on how difficult it would be for Szczęsny to maintain his competitive level:

“Wojciech Szczęsny was practically a former player during that time. Regaining rhythm, reaction time, and concentration after such a long break is really challenging.”

Similarly, Boniek was also clear that Iñaki Peña would have faced a significantly harder reaction if he had made these mistakes:

“If Iñaki had made mistakes like Szczęsny’s, in Poland, we probably would have burned him at the stake.”

There is no doubt that Szczęsny’s performances have been far from ideal. However, it is also clear that Barcelona have always won when the Pole is in the goal, which is in stark contrast with how the Catalans dropped a lot of points in the last stretch of 2024 with Peña as the starter.

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