JAKARTA - Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will be a key player against Osasuna in the La Liga Spain match at the Olimpic Lluis Companys Stadium, Sunday, March 9, 2025 in the morning WIB.
Szczesny was actually recruited by Barca to be the coating of Inaki Pena's second goalkeeper. Because Barca lost main goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who suffered a long injury.
But Szczesny later became Flick's mainstay to stand under the bar. In fact, he still looks prime and has an important role in bringing Barca back to the top of the La Liga standings.
The brilliant performance was again shown by the 34-year-old goalkeeper against Benfica in the first match of the Champions League last 16. In the match which was held at Benfica's home at the Stadio da Luz, Thursday, March 6, 2025 in the morning WIB, Barca lost defender Pau Cubarsi since the 22. This made Szczesny have to struggle to save the net from Benfica's attack.
As a result, Benfica's players could not break into Barca's goal. On the other hand, the Blaugrana were able to score through Raphinha so they won 1-0.
This is of course Barca's valuable capital to advance to the quarter-finals. The reason is they only need a draw in the second match which will be held at home next week.
"He played fantastic. The players tried hard to stay in the 10 match against 11 players. And, he helped the team a lot," Flick said.
"It's already his job. We don't deny it. But he finished his job very well. That's why he's now the number one [goalkeeper]," said the former Bayern Munich coach.
Flick, further, said that he did not immediately place Szczesny under the bar. Flick explained when he had discussions with the coaching staff when confirming the status of the player level.
"When you watch the players train, you can feel who is in the best condition. I also discussed with the coaching staff. I saw how players train hard and they can reach what level," Flick said again.
"Dan, semua menyaksikan Szczesny memang mampu berada di level tersebut. Semua tahu itu. Saya memang yang memutuskan, tetapi saya berbicara lebih dahulu dengan staf pelatih," ujarnya.
After defeating Benfica, Barca are now focusing on facing Osasuna in an effort to maintain her position at the top of the standings. Only, Flick said that Osasuna, who is currently in the middle board, was ranked 11 not lightly.
At the first meeting of the season at home, September 2024, they beat Barca 4-2.
"But the situation is different. At that time we had an away match. In addition, in this match, we were able to field the best team. I think our performance is different now. This is what makes us optimistic in this match," said Flick.
Barca are competing with Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid for the top position in the standings as the competition enters the final round.
Barca still occupy the throne of the standings by pocketing 57 points. A one-point lead with Atletico who are in second place. Meanwhile, Madrid, who are ranked third with 54 points.
"It will be a game that is not easy. At home, they play very well," said Flick.
"They are able to pressure us, as well as when dealing one-on-one. It must be admitted that it is difficult for us to get out of the pressure. So, we have to prepare ourselves as well as possible," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
