34-year-old Barcelona veteran had a night to forget against Benfica – Opinion | OneFootball

FC Barcelona got past Benfica in dramatic fashion last night, pulling off a comeback for the ages. The scoreline ended 5-4 in favor of the Catalan club, with Hansi Flick’s men showing immense mental strength to pull this one back.

Hansi Flick named a starting XI along expected lines for the most part with the only surprise being the German coach starting Wojciech Szczęsny ahead of Iñaki Peña, with the latter being preferred in the Champions League so far this season.

Without a doubt though, this was one decision that backfired royally for the German coach on the night, despite Barcelona’s sensational win. The Polish veteran got absolutely cooked by the Benfica attack, doing no favors to his case to start regularly going forward.

As per stats from SofaScore, Szczęsny made just two saves all game, having an abysmal goals-prevented tally of -1.01. He made one direct error that led to a goal and also conceded a penalty. He also failed to make any punches or high claims.

Just by eye test, it has been very evident that the former Juventus shot-stopper is not a sweeper keeper by any stretch of the imagination. He struggles with everything that Inaki Pena excels at, which really suits this tactical setup.

There were so many times that the 34-year-old came out of his area last night, even apart from the errors, almost always getting his timing wrong and even when kicking out, he often looked rushed and less calmer than his Spanish counterpart.

Barcelona fans might have never thought that this day would come but it is safe to say that they missed Iñaki Peña big time in the Champions League last night. It might also be safe to say that it is unlikely that the 25-year-old won’t get a start against Atalanta next week.

Szczęsny will go back from this game, with his face covered in horror. His Barcelona career might be over even before it started and let’s wait and see if Hansi Flick persists with him in the Champions League going forward.