La Liga
Hansi Flick Confirms When Wojciech Szczesny Will Debut For Barcelona
Barcelona’s newly signed goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, will not debut against Deportivo Alaves in La Liga, as manager Hansi Flick announced on Saturday that he will be available for selection only after the international break.
Flick’s side travel to Alaves on Sunday, coming off Tuesday’s 5-0 home win over Swiss side Young Boys in the Champions League.
Barcelona signed Szczesny as a free agent on Wednesday after the Polish goalkeeper changed his mind about retirement to help the team following Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s season-ending injury.
Barca are top of the La Liga standings with 21 points from eight games while Alaves are 11th with 10 points.
“Szczesny is in good shape, and with his experience, character, and quality, I think he is the very best option for the club. It’s very good to have him; he will help us a lot, but he is not with us against Alaves,” Flick told reporters on Saturday.
After the international break, the Catalan side faces a challenging schedule, starting with a home match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, followed by an away game against Real Madrid in La Liga on October 26th.
“I am sure after the international break Szczesny will be an option for us. For him also, to play for Barca will be great. We will see how he is doing in training, we have a lot of time,” Flick said.
Flick had said his decision to rest key starters had an impact in their first loss of the domestic season, a 4-2 loss at Osasuna last weekend, and accepted that players would be upset with his decisions.
“It’s normal to get angry, everyone wants to play more. Those changes had to be made. It’s a decision that they have to accept and they did,” he added.
“Lamine Yamal (who started on the bench and was subbed in the 59th minute) complained that he wasn’t receiving many balls, but now he can work on fixing that.
“We have to avoid the many mistakes we made at Osasuna. We need to have more control and possession. It is going to be a high-intensity game at Alaves.”
