Barcelona star dropped for Spanish Supercup semi-final after Hansi Flick punishment | OneFootball

Hansi Flick has named his starting line-up for the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club, and there has been a big decision made as Wojciech Szczesny has retained his place in goals after keeping a clean sheet on debut against Barbastro last weekend.

However, it is not on merit that Szczesny has remained in the line-up, but rather because regular starter Inaki Pena has been punished by Flick. As revealed by Helena Condis, the Spaniard was due to start in Saudi Arabia, but after arriving late to a team session, he has been dropped.

Flick has taken a no-nonsense approaches to these affairs since becoming Barcelona head coach last summer, and he has been consistent in this latest incident. It’s major disappointment for Pena, although he does only have himself to blame.

It will be very interesting to see how Szczesny gets on against Athletic, as he should be much more busy than his Barcelona debut.