Just over 200 days ago, Wojciech Szczesny announced his sudden retirement. The Polish goalkeeper has refused to accept a few million Euros in salary to return to Juventus and leave football.
During his retirement period of just over a month, Szczesny took a break in Costa del Sol, Spain, and put his family first. After that, Marc-Andre ter Stegen was injured, Barcelona called (through Robert Lewandowski) and Szczesny immediately agreed.
Returning to the pitch, the 34-year-old goalkeeper is unbeaten in 17 appearances for Barcelona (14 wins, 3 draws). Szczesny and the Spanish Super Cup champions were sent off in El Clasico, leading La Liga and becoming a strong candidate for the Champions League title. Those were unbelievable experiences for Szczesny.
The contract extension has been discussed and will most likely take place before his 35th birthday next month. And it is not too much to say that Szczesny is the story of the season.
That was highlighted in the impressive 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid. Blaugrana came back to win 4-2 despite being 2 goals behind. Szczesny has been outspoken about the win as well as his decision to retire last summer.
The Polish goalkeeper shared with Gabby Amado on La Liga TV: "We are very happy with this great result. But as human beings, we have to feel a little guilty towards our opponents because as long as they have energy, I still feel Atletico play better than us.
Then, when they ran out of energy, we showed our cruelty. If you are given a little space, plus scoring opportunities, that is what will happen."
When Szczesny was unexpectedly chosen as Barcelona's number 1 goalkeeper instead of Inaki Pena, there was both shock and a great deal of chaos. Remember, in his career, the 34-year-old goalkeeper rarely plays consistently behind a high defensive line. And it is even more worrying about how he feels after a break.
In fact, Szczesny was sent off after blocking Kylian Mbappe in the Spanish Super Cup final. However, Barca still won the championship in the end. The 34-year-old goalkeeper also did not play well in Barcelona's dramatic 5-4 victory over Benfica in the Champions League.
And as Szczesny admitted: "It's a coincidence that Barcelona never lost when I was on the pitch. I don't get much credit for that. The team plays unbelievably and you just try not to mess things up. I just try to concentrate.
Like the match against Atletico Madrid, those 2 goals I lost, I couldn't do much, at least I felt like that. What this team has done is incredible, so I hope they will receive all the credit for the recent results. Not me".
Szczesny still made some mistakes, but always shined in important situations, something Pena could not do. In general, Szczesny's return after retirement has far exceeded what everyone was expecting.
