BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Tuesday he and his staff have chosen Wojciech Szczesny over Inaki Pena as the team’s first choice goalkeeper.
The Catalan giants brought former Polish international Szczesny out of retirement as an emergency signing in October after Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a severe knee injury.
Pena has been the club’s number one during the first half of the season but Szczesny was chosen in the previous two matches.
“My job is to make the decision on this position... for me Tek (Szczesny) is an experienced player and he has a good personality, but both of them are great goalkeepers,” Flick told a news conference ahead of the Champions League clash with Atalanta on Wednesday.
“I decided, also with my team, my coaching staff, for Tek... both are very good, and in the past Inaki did a good job, but now I decided like that.
“I always look for the (good of) the team, and this is how we act.”
Barcelona already secured qualification directly to the last 16 of the Champions League with a 5-4 win over Benfica last week, in which Szczesny made two big mistakes which led to goals.
However Barcelona have won each of the five matches in which the former Juventus stopper has featured this season.
Barcelona will be without defender Andreas Christensen, who will miss three weeks with a calf injury, the club said in a statement.
The Danish defender had only just recovered from an Achilles tendon issue and has not played since August.
Atalanta, third in Serie A, are hoping to secure a top eight Champions League finish, with the Italian side currently seventh.
Flick backing Szczesny as Barca’s number one
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Flick backing Szczesny as Barca’s number one
- “My job is to make the decision on this position,” Flick told a news conference
- “I always look for the (good of) the team, and this is how we act“
Substitute Kane scores hat-trick in Bayern’s 5-0 demolition of hosts Stuttgart
- The Bavarians were a goal up but struggling against the aggressive hosts until the introduction of Kane
- Bayern were lucky to go into the break with a one-goal lead thanks to Konrad Laimer
STUTTGART: Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane scored a hat-trick after coming on as second-half substitute to guide Bayern Munich to a 5-0 victory over hosts VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
The Bavarians, who have opened up an 11-point lead at the top, were a goal up but struggling against the aggressive hosts until the introduction of Kane on the hour mark. Stuttgart were also left with 10 men for the last 10 minutes following the dismissal of Lorenz Assignon.
Bayern, who host Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League on Tuesday, were lucky to go into the break with a one-goal lead thanks to Konrad Laimer’s 11th minute strike.
Stuttgart first saw Nikolas Nartey’s header that went in ruled narrowly offside and Chema also came agonizingly close to scoring in stoppage time.
Deniz Undav, who has scored six of Stuttgart’s last eight goals as he battles to reclaim his Germany spot ahead of next year’s World Cup, came even closer with a powerful shot in the 59th that Bayern keeper Jonas Urbig tipped over the bar.
The introduction of Kane , however, tipped the balance in the visitors’ favor and the England captain opened his account with a crisp, low drive in the 66th.
Stuttgart keeper Alexander Nuebel then let Bayern substitute Josip Stanisic’ weak shot slip through his hands to make it 3-0 and to make matters worse, Bayern earned an 80th minute penalty following a handball and red card for Assignon, and Kane easily converted it.
The forward completed his hat-trick from a Michael Olize cutback in the 88th to take his league tally to 17 goals and lift the Bundesliga leaders to 37 points, 11 ahead of second-placed RB Leipzig, in action against Eintracht Frankfurt later.
