Polish players Robert Lewandowski and Wojciech Szczęsny played key roles in Barcelona’s dramatic 4-5 defeat of Benfica in the Champions League.
The Poland captain twice held his nerve from the penalty spot in a thrilling encounter in Lisbon on Tuesday evening.
His first spot-kick conversion drew his team level at 1-1 in the 13th minute, with his trademark stutter and hop before sending the keeper the wrong way.
A hopeful ball over Barca’s defense lured Szczęsny into charging way out of his area. He not only missed the ball but clattered into his own defender, Balde, in the process, leaving Pavlidis with an empty net.
Just eight minutes later and things went from bad to worse for the veteran goalkeeper, who once again came sprinting off his line when he did not need to. This time he wiped out winger Aktürkoğlu to gift Benfica a penalty, which Pavlidis duly dispatched.
His first spot-kick conversion drew his team level at 1-1 in the 13th minute, with his trademark stutter and hop before sending the keeper the wrong way.
But the Portuguese outfit responded in impressive fashion, with Greek forward Vangelis Pavlidis bagging a first half hat trick, the second of which could not have been easier.Fun Fact: Robert Lewandowski leads the Champions League in goal scoring. pic.twitter.com/oDJoPsQt9c
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 22, 2025
A hopeful ball over Barca’s defense lured Szczęsny into charging way out of his area. He not only missed the ball but clattered into his own defender, Balde, in the process, leaving Pavlidis with an empty net.
Just eight minutes later and things went from bad to worse for the veteran goalkeeper, who once again came sprinting off his line when he did not need to. This time he wiped out winger Aktürkoğlu to gift Benfica a penalty, which Pavlidis duly dispatched.
By the 78th minute, Barca appeared to be deep in the mire at 4-2 down, but the Catalans won a penalty and the ever-reliable Pole stepped up and slotted the ball once again into the right-hand corner to half the deficit.
They then grabbed an 86th minute equalizer and then, six minutes into added time countered through the outstanding Raphinha who scored the winner to complete turnaround.
Barcelona’s Polish teammates could celebrate the emotional victory at the end. But while Lewandowski can reflect on his two expertly taken spot kicks, which made him statistically the Champions League’s all-time best penalty taker, Szczęsny will be left regretting his errors.
He has now made the same mistake on three occasions in two high profile matches in the last nine days and having waited so long for a starting berth, his place really looks under threat now.
One of the main strengths of Iñaki Peña, who has played impressively between the sticks for the majority of this season following André ter Stegen’s season-ending injury in September, is his ability to spring swiftly off his line and sweep up behind Barcelona’s defensive high line.
This comparative slowness off his line is likely the very reason why coach Hansi Flick was initially hesitant to put his faith in Szczęsny over Peña. Barcelona, alongside Liverpool have become the first sides to earn guaranteed top eight places in the league phase and thus automatically qualify for the Champions League knockout phase.
They then grabbed an 86th minute equalizer and then, six minutes into added time countered through the outstanding Raphinha who scored the winner to complete turnaround.
Barcelona’s Polish teammates could celebrate the emotional victory at the end. But while Lewandowski can reflect on his two expertly taken spot kicks, which made him statistically the Champions League’s all-time best penalty taker, Szczęsny will be left regretting his errors.
Having joined the club in October, the Pole only won his first start in January, keeping two clean sheets his first two games. However, he was unceremoniously sent off against Real Madrid in the Super Cup, unnecessarily rushing off his line, taking out Mbappé.Robert Lewandowski has the best penalty conversion rate in Champions League history among all players to take more than six spot-kicks (excluding shootouts).
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 21, 2025
𝐿𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠𝑘𝑖 94.7% (18/19)
Harry Kane 90.9% (10/11)
Jorginho 88.9% (8/9)
Cristiano Ronaldo 86.4% (19/22) pic.twitter.com/XDGAC8mi0b
He has now made the same mistake on three occasions in two high profile matches in the last nine days and having waited so long for a starting berth, his place really looks under threat now.
One of the main strengths of Iñaki Peña, who has played impressively between the sticks for the majority of this season following André ter Stegen’s season-ending injury in September, is his ability to spring swiftly off his line and sweep up behind Barcelona’s defensive high line.
This comparative slowness off his line is likely the very reason why coach Hansi Flick was initially hesitant to put his faith in Szczęsny over Peña. Barcelona, alongside Liverpool have become the first sides to earn guaranteed top eight places in the league phase and thus automatically qualify for the Champions League knockout phase.
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