Expected Debut! Szczesny makes his debut with Barça keeping a clean sheet in Barbastro

FC Barcelona thrashed UD Barbastro (0-4) this Saturday in the official debut of Wojciech Szczesny. The 34-year-old goalkeeper played his first match in six months after his last appearance with Poland in the previous Eurocup, and he did so on a day where he hardly had any work, against a Huesca team that barely approached the rival area a couple of times during the 90 minutes.

Unlike the match played last season, Barbastro appeared very timid, completely withdrawn in their field and aiming to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible. After the 0-1 scored by Eric García in the 21st minute, the locals' resistance completely broke down. For Szczesny, his only intervention in the first half came just before the second goal, scored by Robert Lewandowski, after a long-range shot from Javito that the '25' culé safely caught, well positioned in the middle of the goal.

Szczesny left very good impressions in his debut with Barça

In the second half, Lewy's second goal and another scored by Pablo Torre, taking advantage of a gross error by goalkeeper Fàbrega, extinguished any attempt at a reaction from the Unión Deportiva before the hour mark. Barça notably lowered the intensity in the final quarter of an hour, and Barbastro tried to trouble the blaugrana defense with some crosses from the sides.

Towards the end, a push from Gerard Martín almost cost Wojciech a goal, but Pau Cubarsí appeared to prevent further damage. In the end, the Polish goalkeeper managed to keep his goal intact during his debut, something that Iñaki Peña has only been able to achieve 6 times in 19 appearances this season (he has conceded 22 goals).

Although Hansi Flick has made it clear that the starting position of the Alicante player is not in doubt, Szczesny showed he is in top form despite his long inactivity. The Warsaw native came out of retirement to sign with Barça in October. Since then, he had accumulated 14 consecutive bench appearances between La Liga and the Champions League. In Barbastro, the '25' completed 20 of 22 passes (91%), with seven balls recovered and one save.