Wojciech Szczesny was under the scanner as Barcelona claimed a narrow but exciting 5-4 victory over SL Benfica last night.
The Polish goalkeeper, starting ahead of Iñaki Peña, had a horrendous start to the game, giving away a goal and conceding a penalty.
Szczesny’s biggest scream was when he decided to come off his line to clear a long ball from Benfica. But instead of clearing the ball, he collided with Alejandro Balde, allowing Vangelis Pavlidis to score the goal.
Szczesny explains the incident with Balde
A day after Barcelona’s big victory, Szczesny explained his clash with Balde and how it ended in a goal for Benfica.
“I think the timing of the start was good, but Balde didn’t listen to me. Luckily it was only one goal and we ended up winning the game.” Szczesny told Canal+ (h/t Diario SPORT).
“It was a misunderstanding, but it can happen because we were both going for the ball. I screamed and he didn’t listen to me. “It was a little fun, but we ended up winning.” he added.
Another mistake by the veteran goalkeeper led to him conceding a penalty which Pavlidis successfully deflected.
Explaining the incident, Szczesny admitted that it was indeed a penalty. “On the field it seemed to me that there had been no contact, but after watching the replay, it was a penalty.” said.
In fact, Szczesny should be grateful that Barcelona were able to secure a win against Benfica, otherwise it could have led to some serious retrospection on the Pole’s performance.
This despite Szczesny enjoying a brilliant end to the match, where he made some crucial saves, notably preventing Angel Di María from scoring.
In fact, Szczesny even recognized salvation and stated: “It wasn’t the way to redeem myself. I felt frustrated and it was my way of helping when we were looking for victory and defending with only two players.
“We could accept the 4-4, but we wanted the victory. It is the culture of Barça. We played very high and the stop helped.”
Finally, Szczesny talked about his first experience as a goalkeeper in the high line of defense.
“I have never played with such a high defense. Wenger demanded a lot from the goalkeeper, but here the players are very far from me. At 34 you can always learn. It is a great experience.” he concluded.