Hansi Flick has sprung a surprise. Everyone was expecting Polish Szczęsny to start in the league match against Sevilla... but the truth is that the FC Barcelona coach still has faith in Iñaki Peña. He confirmed this in the press conference prior to the match, completely ruling out the new goalkeeper making his debut.
"I'm not planning to rotate the goalkeeper. Initially, Iñaki Peña will play against Sevilla and next Wednesday. I'm not planning to make any changes," said Hansi Flick.
In this regard, the German coach added, speaking of Szczęsny : "I am glad that Szczęsny says he is ready. But there's no reason to change the goalkeeper. Iñaki will play against Sevilla."
Marc Casadó knew the decision
These words from Hansi Flick have taken a good part of Barcelona's social mass by surprise, even part of the dressing room... but the reality is that there was one player who already knew it: Marc Casadó.
Marc Casadó is one of Iñaki Peña's closest friends in the Barça dressing room. The goalkeeper knew about the decision moments before Hansi Flick made it public and he told his good friend, who congratulated him on it.
This is how much Szczęsny earns at Barça
The contract signed by Barça is worth three million euros gross and ends on June 30.
The Polish goalkeeper has plenty of experience from seven seasons in the Premier League with Arsenal and 548 matches, and nine more in the Calcio, between Roma and Juventus.
Barça has had to agree to a compensation of two million euros with Juventus. This is the result of the agreement reached with the goalkeeper when he announced his retirement.
In reality, the total cost for Barça will be 5 million because the compensation to Juventus will come from the club's coffers.
Szczęsny acknowledged that “Lewandowski was the first person who called me to look into the possibility of this happening because I was retired.”
She added: "I spoke to my family and friends and they all told me that it would be a mistake not to accept this. That's why Robert played a very important role because he was the one who convinced me."
The truth is that Szczęsny arrived with the label of being a starter, but the first thing on his mind is that against Sevilla and Bayern, Iñaki Peña will start.