Wojciech Szczesny made his UEFA Champions League debut for FC Barcelona against SL Benfica last night and had a horrible start.
The 34-year-old Pole, chosen in place of Iñaki Peña, was responsible for two of the three goals Benfica scored in the first half at the Estadio da Luz, and his decision-making disappointed the team.
Szczesny redeemed himself a bit with crucial saves in the closing stages of the game to help Barça make a comeback from 4-5 down.
without looking back
Speaking to the media after the match, Szczesny preferred not to reflect on his error-plagued performance, but instead expressed optimism about what Barcelona can achieve in the remainder of the season.
“I don’t want to look back because there is still a long way to go in the Champions League. There are fantastic teams and we must be at our best level if we want to be competitive.” said Szczesny, quoted by Sports World.
Speaking about his time so far at Barça, after coming out of retirement to sign for the Catalans, the 34-year-old added:
“These last six months have been quite a challenge for me, but I can say that I am very happy with the decision to come to Barcelona.”
Cubarsi: ‘It’s the craziest game I’ve ever experienced’
Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi, 18, described Tuesday’s Champions League match against Benfica as “the craziest game” he has ever experienced.
“We are all very happy because we brought out the soul we had inside” said Cubarsi, quoted by MARYLAND.
Reflecting on the match played at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, he stressed that “It was important to win” to achieve the objective of qualifying directly for the round of 16.
Regarding the altercation in the tunnel between both teams after the game, where Raphinha claimed to have been insulted, Cubarsi stated that he did not see anything because he was the first to enter and focused solely on celebrating the victory.