Real Madrid and Barcelona are delivering a thrilling La Liga encounter. Los Blancos went into halftime leading 2-1, and early in the second half, they had a chance to extend their advantage with a penalty from Kylian Mbappe. However, Wojciech Szczesny came up big and stopped the shot.
In the first half, Real Madrid showed clear superiority over their rivals, controlling possession for much of the match and creating numerous scoring opportunities. VAR played a key role early on, denying Xabi Alonso’s side both a penalty and a goal from the French striker.
However, Mbappe had his revenge in the 22nd minute, receiving a brilliant assist from Jude Bellingham and finishing with a powerful shot. Madrid’s dominance continued in the following minutes, with another goal from Kylian ruled out for offside. Surprisingly, Barcelona found an equalizer through Fermin Lopez, who was set up inside the box and finished calmly.
Barcelona’s joy was short-lived. Just five minutes later, with halftime approaching, Vinicius Jr. delivered a cross from the left that found Bellingham, who restored Real Madrid’s lead with a composed finish.
Mbappe misses a penalty
The second half unfolded in much the same way. Real Madrid continued to dominate and create chances until the 52nd minute, when VAR called Cesar Soto Grado to review a possible handball by Eric Garcia. The referee awarded a penalty to Los Blancos.
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Kylian Mbappe stepped up to take it, sending a powerful, curling shot. However, Wojciech Szczesny guessed correctly, stretching out his right arm to intercept the ball and deny the French striker his second goal of the night.
Szczesny has a history of stopping penalties from top stars
That Wojciech Szczesny was able to deny Kylian Mbappe with such an impressive strike is no coincidence. The Polish goalkeeper has extensive experience in this aspect of the game and, over the years, has saved penalties from a wide range of top-level players.
Throughout his career, Szczesny has faced penalty kicks 96 times during regulation, stopping 21 while conceding 75. This gives him a save rate of 21.8%, a remarkably high figure that highlights his talent in these high-pressure situations. There’s no doubt that the penalty save against Mbappe will rank among the standout moments of Szczesny’s career.
In the same category is the penalty he stopped from Lionel Messi during the Argentina vs. Poland match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Other stars Szczesny has denied from the spot include Neymar, Victor Osimhen, and Gonzalo Higuain.
