Barcelona coach Hansi Flick confirms the reason for Wojciech Szczesny’s absence against Alaves

La Liga leaders Barcelona travel to Alaves for their MD9 game on Sunday afternoon – they will be without the services of new signing Wojciech Szczesny, although he is ready to play after his registration was confirmed earlier this weekend.

Szczesny was not included in Barcelona’s matchday squad for Alaves as Ander Astragaga and Aron Yaakobishvili were the two goalkeepers accompanying current number one Inaki Pena on the trip to Vitoria. According to the MD, Hansi Flick explained the omission during his pre-match press conference.

“He is in very good shape but unfortunately he will not travel to Vitoria because I think he needs more time with us and will be ready and an option after the break.

“It is very good for the club to have Szczesny because of his experience, his character and his quality. When I spoke to him, I found that he was a very friendly person. He said he would contribute to the team in any way he could and I was impressed. He will contribute a lot.”

That means Szczesny’s first chance to start for Barcelona in two weeks’ time will be against Sevilla, and there’s no doubt he’s keen on his chances of taking the starting goalkeeper spot away from Inaki Pena.