Wojciech Szczesny recommends 'meditation and breathing' to angry Barcelona and Real Madrid stars after watching Clasico erupt in brawl

Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend to end their four-game losing streak against the reigning La Liga champions, thanks to first-half goals from Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham. 

However, tempers flared between the two arch-rivals, with Thibaut Courtois, Dani Carvajal, and Vinícius Junior engaging in a tense exchange with Lamine Yamal. Madrid players were fired up ahead of the highly-anticipated match after Yamal, during a live stream, implied that Los Blancos “rob, complain, and do things" to win by questionable means.

After the full-time whistle, Carvajal, the Madrid captain, told Yamal: "You speak too much. Speak now." Yamal reportedly responded by saying: "See you in the tunnel," as he pointed towards the tunnel repetitively.

Speaking in a chat with Polish YouTubers, Szczesny said: “I learned early in my career that emotions don’t help me, so I try to disconnect. For example, after El Clasico, everyone was arguing and fighting, and I just thought, ‘We lost the match, but we have to move on.’ I would recommend that everyone practice meditation and work on their breathing. I do breathing exercises before the match and at halftime. People look at me strangely because I do it right in the middle of the locker room. I recommend working on your breathing in extreme conditions — in both cold and heat.”

Barcelona had their third-choice goalkeeper Szczesny to thank for ensuring Madrid didn't complete a demolition job of Barcelona at the Bernabeu last weekend. He made nine saves – the most by a goalkeeper in an El Clasico since April 2017 – which also included a second-half save against an Mbappe penalty. It's the first time since the 2015-16 season that a goalkeeper made a successful penalty save in El Clasico. 

With that, he has now saved the penalties of some of the greatest players in football history, such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar. When asked how he prepares for penalties, the Polish goalkeeper said: “I study the penalty takers a lot before matches. I usually watch the last 20 penalties taken by the two or three players responsible for taking them and try to find the pattern in their shots. Sometimes their run-up also gives me information. There are players who shoot differently at important moments in the match or if the team is winning or losing. I try to gather all that information and then go with my instincts. 

“As for Mbappe, he scored the last penalty against me (in the 4-3 win at home last season). I was feeling confident and knew he would choose the same side. Then you have to hope it happens, and luckily it did."

It must be remembered that Szczesny was a happily retired professional around a year ago, enjoying life with his family. However, an ACL injury to then first-choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen forced the club to look for emergency options, and they turned towards the former Arsenal and Juventus custodian. He established himself as a first-choice keeper under Hansi Flick in the second half of the season after coming out of retirement, proving that he still had enough in his tank to deliver at the highest level.

He agreed to renew his deal by another season over the summer, expressing his happiness at being third-choice behind summer signing Joan Garcia and Ter Stegen. In fact, he has emphasised that he wants to spend the season mentoring Garcia, believing that the 24-year-old has the potential to become the best goalkeeper in the world. 

Injuries to both goalkeepers above the Warsaw-born player in the pecking order saw him being called into action. He has played six games on the trot and doesn't look out of place. However, both Szczesny and the club will be hoping that Garcia doesn't suffer further setbacks once he recovers. The ex-Espanyol goalkeeper underwent knee operation in late September, but there's optimism within the club that he could return to the lineup before the upcoming international break. 

In any case, Garcia's return will not be rushed, which means we can expect Szczesny to retain his spot for the next few games, if not more.