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Barcelona manager Hansi Flick could only point out one error in their 7-1 home La Liga victory over Valencia.
The Blaurgana followed up their 5-4 UEFA Champions League victory over Benfica with a goal-filled night in Catalonia.
After sealing their place in the last 16 of the Champions League, Barcelona are now firmly focused on domestic matters in the coming weeks as Flick will rotate his team against Los Che.
One of the players who kept his place on the trip to Lisbon was Wojciech Szczesny despite Flick’s previous comments about his role.
The former Bayern Munich coach had indicated that his plan was to start Szczesny in European action with Iñaki Peña as number one in his league.
That plan changed against Valencia, in a huge pre-match shock, after a difficult night at Benfica.
Szczesny conceded a penalty and crashed into Alejandro Balde to allow another goal, but Flick stuck with him this weekend.
The veteran goalkeeper was stopped by VAR against Valencia after committing another reckless penalty, but Flick will keep faith in him for now.
“We needed players with fresh legs. It’s incredible how they played, everyone was involved,” he said at the end of the game.
“We haven’t given up on Tek yet [Szczesny] However, he is important. I understand that for Iñaki Peña the situation is not the best, but we decided to start with Szczesny tonight after an internal meeting.”
With a place in the next round of the Champions League already secured, Szczesny should maintain his place between the posts against Atalanta in midweek, but the real question will center on Alaves at home next weekend.
Peña had started the last 14 consecutive league games before Flick called up Szczesny, following Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s season-ending injury, but the situation has now changed and he will have to fight to convince the manager about your initial credentials.
