3 wins! Barcelona goalkeeper feels the wonder of fate and is still enjoying retirement 8 months ago

In the early morning of May 16, a Catalonian derby was staged in the 36th round of the 2024/25 La Liga. Barcelona beat Espanyol 2-0 away and won the La Liga championship this season two rounds ahead of schedule. In this game, Polish goalkeeper Szczesni continued to start, giving away the highest 4 clearances in the game, becoming one of the team's heroes to win. But eight months ago, Szczesny was enjoying his retirement life on the golf course.

Born in April 1990, Szczesni is 35 years old. He is from Legia Youth Training in Warsaw, Poland, and later switched to Arsenal Youth Training. After being promoted to Arsenal's first team in July 2008, Szczesni was loaned to Brentford and Roma and other teams. In July 2017, he joined the Serie A giant Juventus for 18.4 million euros, and won three Serie A, three Italian Cups and two Italian Super Cup championships with the team in 7 seasons. After the end of last season, Szczesni made the decision to retire, although he still maintained a very good competitive level at the time.

Regarding his retirement choice, Szczesny explained: "My body is still ready to face any challenges, but my heart is no longer on the court. I feel it is time to focus on my family, on my perfect wife Marina and two adorable children." However, Lao Yan Gun's retirement life was broken in just 2 months.

In September 2024, Szczesni, who was swinging comfortably on the golf course of the famous Spanish tourist resort Marbella, received a call from former national teammate Lewandowski. The latter asked him tentatively if he wanted to return to his old career and come to Barcelona to play football because Barcelona's main goalkeeper Ter Stegen was seriously injured. The summer transfer window was closed at that time, and Szczesny, who had just retired, became a good choice.

Faced with the invitation of the La Liga giants, Szczesni's enthusiasm for football was rekindled. He packed his bags and embarked on his journey to Barcelona. Of course, everything was difficult at the beginning. In the first three months of Barcelona, ​​Szczesni did not get a chance to play. Coach Frick trusts the team's second goal Penia, and the latter's performance is indeed remarkable. However, in the third round of the Cup del Rey in January this year, Penia was pressed on the bench because of being late. Szczesni made his debut and easily scored a penalty, helping Barcelona advance 4-0 away win. After that, he became Flick's undisputed starting goalkeeper.

As of now, Szczesni has played in a total of 30 games for Barcelona and completed 14 clean sheets. During this period, he also had embarrassing moments of reckless attacks in the Spanish Super League Cup and abandoning low-level mistakes in the Champions League, but Frick trusted him as always and received generous rewards. In the Champions League knockout match against Benfica and Dortmund, Szczesni performed two magical performances of eight saves in a single game, becoming one of the biggest contributors to Barcelona's advance to the Champions League semi-finals.

Some time ago, Barcelona's main goalkeeper Ter Stegen announced his injury and returned from his return, hoping to guard the goal for Barcelona in the Champions League. However, since Szczesny was able to register for the Champions League by using the former's salary space, if Ter Stegen plays in the Champions League, it means that Szczesny will be revoked. Barcelona senior executives and coach Frick eventually rejected Ter Stegen's idea, and Szczesny was able to continue playing in the Champions League. This is enough to show his position in the hearts of Barcelona's management.

In this game early this morning, when the final whistle sounded, Szczesni did not celebrate with his teammates, but instead squatted in the penalty area and thoughtfully. Then he hugged his wife tightly and enjoyed the glory of victory and championship. This was undoubtedly a very wonderful moment for the Poles. He had already said goodbye to football, but now he has won the Spanish Super League, Spanish Cup and La Liga championships in just 8 months. If he hadn't made a comeback, he might be watching a boring soap opera with his family on the couch at this moment. Next, Szczesni even has the hope of renewing his contract with Barcelona and continuing to play in the green field. As for retirement, let’s talk about it.