Barcelona star Wojciech Szczęsny has provided an insight into the method he used to prepare for the penalty kick taken by Real Madrid frontman Kylian Mbappé last weekend.
Szczęsny of course proved himself the star of the show on the Barcelona side of things in the season’s first edition of El Clásico.
En route to a 2-1 defeat for the Blaugrana, the Pole conjured up a hefty nine saves, keeping the scoreline a respectable one for Hansi Flick’s side.
The best of his stops came early in the 2nd-half, when Szczęsny did brilliantly to keep out a spot-kick on the part of the in-form Kylian Mbappé.
Diving to his right, the former Arsenal and Juventus man somehow got enough on the ball to push it out for a corner kick.
And as alluded to above, with the dust having now settled on the fixture, Szczęsny has provided an insight into the pre-match work which went into as much.
Speaking during an interview on Barcelona’s official YouTube channel (as cited by Mundo Deportivo), the 35-year-old explained:
“I study a lot. Before each match, I watch the last 20 penalties taken by the two or three main penalty takers. Sometimes you pick up information during their career. Some shoot differently depending on the moment in the match or the score. I try to have as much information as possible.”
Drawn specifically on Mbappé’s effort from 12 yards, Szczęsny added:
“It was quite obvious, he scored the last penalty against me taking it like that. He was in a good moment of confidence, I knew he would choose the same side. Then you have to pray to reach the ball.”
Conor Laird – GSFN
