FC Barcelona received a significant setback in the initial phase of this 2024-25 season as they saw their starting goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, go down with a serious injury that is expected to keep him out of action for the rest of the season.
However, fortunately, Inaki Pena has been up to the standards that were required from him and has not really made Hansi Flick miss the German in goal.
But the Blaugranes were not looking to take any risks as Ter Stegen suffered his injury, and they signed Wojciech Szczesny as an emergency measure to have another experienced option in their ranks in case Pena was unable to play in a game.
However, several months after he came out of retirement to sign for Barcelona, the Pole is yet to play his first minutes in a Barcelona shirt.
His opportunity might not be far, as he is likely to get his first start in the upcoming opening game of their Copa del Rey campaign against Barbastro.
As SPORT has noted, even though the opposition will not strike a lot of fear in a goalkeeper of his experience, the fact that he has not played for the last six months means this will be a litmus test for him, and he will have to prove that he still has the qualities that made one of the top goalkeepers in Europe only a few years ago.
The last time Szczesny played an official match was on June 21st, as he donned the Polish national team jersey to face Austria in the UEFA EURO 2024.
At the club level, his last appearance came on 20th May 2024, as he guarded the Juventus goal in the match against Bologna. However, he was no longer a starter for the Serie A side by the end of the season as Perin started the last game of the league campaign.
Now, he will once again return to the pitch in January, and it remains to be seen how this return turns out for him.
