Szczesny's historic shutout: 11 clean sheets and 21 undefeated matches

Published:10/04/2025 - 03:25h

Updated:13/04/2025 - 00:13h

The rebirth of Szczesny: the Pole establishes himself as Barça's talisman this 2025 with 21 undefeated matches and another clean sheet against Dortmund

Football always has stories that are difficult to explain. The one of Wojciech Szczesny in 2024-25, without a doubt, is being a season to remember. The Pole came out of retirement last October to cover for Marc-André ter Stegen's absence and spent his first two months as an FC Barcelona player on the bench, as he had not played since the last European Championship with Poland.

This 2025, however, the 34-year-old goalkeeper has become a true talisman for an invincible Barça that, in addition to continuing to destroy rivals with thrashings, has improved significantly in defense. Against Borussia Dortmund (4-0), Hansi Flick's team added their 19th victory in 23 appearances this year. In 21 of them, the '25' has defended the Barça goal, conceding 18 goals.

However, the most notable thing about the Pole is his performances with a clean sheet. Wednesday's was his eleventh clean sheet of the season, something that Iñaki Peña was only able to achieve in six opportunities after 22 games played in 24-25. Szczesny had little work against Dortmund, but he knew how to respond with 3 saves in 90 minutes. In addition, he recovered 12 balls, with a total of 27 of 33 passes completed (82%).

Szczesny is three games away from a Ter Stegen record

In this way, Wojciech is only 3 games away from Ter Stegen's record of most consecutive games without losing with Barça. The German accumulated 24 consecutive games without defeats between October 4, 2022 and February 26, 2023, during the 2022-23 season. As for matches without conceding goals, the record is held by Víctor Valdés, who went 11 matches without conceding in 2010-11, from November 2, 2010 to January 15, 2011.

On Saturday, against Leganés, Szczesny will seek to extend his unbeaten run in the League, where he currently has 5 clean sheets in 10 appearances (900 minutes), with 6 goals conceded. In the Champions League, on the other hand, his records remain at 2 games out of 5 without conceding, with 7 goals against, while in the Copa del Rey he has accumulated 4 goals conceded in 4 matches, with another 3 clean sheets. Will the Pole be able to close the season without defeats?

The 11 clean sheets of Wojciech Szczesny at Barça

January 4: UD Barbastro 0-4 FC Barcelona (round of 32 of the Copa del Rey, in Barbastro).
January 8: Athletic Club 0-2 FC Barcelona (semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup, in Jeddah).
February 2: FC Barcelona 1-0 Alavés (matchday 22 of LaLiga, in Montjuïc).
February 6: Valencia 0-5 FC Barcelona (quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey, in Mestalla).
February 16: FC Barcelona 1-0 Rayo Vallecano (matchday 24 of LaLiga, in Montjuïc).
February 22: UD Las Palmas 0-2 FC Barcelona (matchday 25 of LaLiga, in Gran Canaria).
March 2: FC Barcelona 4-0 Real Sociedad (matchday 26 of LaLiga, in Montjuïc).
March 5: Benfica 0-1 FC Barcelona (first leg of the Champions League round of 16, in Lisbon).
March 27: FC Barcelona 3-0 Osasuna (matchday 27 of LaLiga, in Montjuïc).
April 2: Atlético de Madrid 0-1 FC Barcelona (second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, in Madrid).
April 9: FC Barcelona 4-0 Borussia Dortmund (first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, in Montjuïc).