Szczesny, the Juventus goalkeeper, was substituted in the first half of their win against Sporting CP due to chest discomfort
During Juventus’ Europa League quarter-final against Sporting CP, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny suffered from chest pain and was replaced by Mattia Perin before the end of the first half.
Szczesny was reportedly left “scared” and was seen in tears as he exited the field. Perin played the remainder of the match as Juventus secured a 1-0 victory at Allianz Stadium.
After being replaced by Mattia Perin in the Europa League quarter-final against Sporting CP, Wojciech Szczesny was cleared by the medical team after undergoing tests in the second half. However, he expressed fear and worry about the situation.
“I am fine, I was a little anxious, but we did all the tests and everything is fine,” he told Sky Sport Italia.
“I was scared, it had never happened to me before, I was struggling to breathe and it really worried me.”
Szczesny trusted Perin to do a good job replacing him
Perin’s impressive performance in the added time where he made a double save to deny Pote and Hector Bellerin helped secure a 1-0 victory for Juventus in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Sporting CP.
Szczesny returned to the field to celebrate with his teammates and joked about the situation, while also praising Perin’s heroics.
“The truth is, I saw Mattia in great shape in training, I felt tired and knew he would have a great double save at the 94th [minute],” he added.
“Nah, they fired it straight at him! I congratulated him, he is also a guy with a heart of gold, we get along well. It’s a shame Carlo [Pinsoglio] didn’t come on, he would’ve had a hat-trick of great saves today.”
Perin praised his team’s performance but emphasized that there was still a lot of work to be done.
“I think the team as a whole has been exceptional not to fall into a victim mentality or false alibis. Instead, we used that negative energy and made it positive, proving we are real men,” he said.
“It is only half-time in the quarter-final. There are another 90 minutes to go and we can be happy with this victory, but it’s only half-done.”
