Sport: Szczesny Outperforms Ter Stegen in Multiple Metrics; Would Bring Consistency to Barca

Why is Szczesny considered an ideal signing for Barcelona? Here are some statistics provided by Sport.

The Polish goalkeeper, who turned 34 in April, has participated in nearly 550 club matches. Additionally, he holds the record for the most appearances with the Polish national team at 84 times, surpassing Artur Boruc and former Real Madrid goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek.

Following Buffon, he is the only goalkeeper to have made over a hundred appearances for Juventus in the entire 21st century. He is also one of Arsenal’s most capped goalkeepers since 2000, having played 181 games. Only German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann (200 games) ranks above him. Others such as Petr Cech (139 games), David Ospina (70 games), and Bernd Leno (125 games) all trail behind him.

In Serie A, Szczesny was not the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded each season, except for the 2017/18 season.

In that season, he had the fewest goals conceded in the league. However, it should be noted that he did not play all the matches in that season. That season, Juventus had just finished runners-up in the Champions League, and in 17 Serie A games, he only conceded 9 goals.

The following year, he was again the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded, conceding only 0.67 goals per 90 minutes. As Juventus’ overall competitiveness and management declined, Szczesny’s performance also dipped. However, in the most recent season, his performance improved, conceding 0.79 goals per 90 minutes, second only to Inter Milan goalkeeper Yann Sommer.

With these impressive statistics, he decided to retire, but now he is back, ready to replace Ter Stegen, sharing some similarities with the German goalkeeper.

In the last season, Ter Stegen played 36 games, while Szczesny played 35. The Polish goalkeeper saved 73.68% of shots faced, facing 2.21 shots per 90 minutes, while Ter Stegen saved 72.5% of shots faced, facing 2.45 shots per 90 minutes. For every goal conceded, Ter Stegen made an average of 2.65 saves, compared to 2.80 for Szczesny. Ter Stegen conceded an average of 0.93 goals per game, although he kept more clean sheets, 47.22%, compared to 42.86% for Szczesny. In terms of long passes, both achieved over 4 successful passes.

With these statistics, Szczesny arrives at Barcelona, ready to replace captain Ter Stegen with reliable performances.