Wojciech Szczesny discusses ‘scare’ during Juventus’ win over Sporting CP

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny came off in the 44th minute of the club’s Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie with Sporting CP on Thursday night after complaining about chest pains.

The Polish netminder left the pitch in tears and immediately went for an electrocardiogram at the Allianz Stadium. The electrocardiogram test checks the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity, which is believed to have shown no irregularity.

Szczesny “doing well”

Substitute goalkeeper Mattia Perin replaced Szczesny as concern for his welfare grew around the ground.

Juventus tweeted after the game that Szczesny was “doing well”, and the Poland international later spoke about the scare.

“It was a fright,” Szczesny told Sky Italia. “It’s something that’s never happened to me before. I had trouble breathing so I was a bit anxious, it was a bit of a scare, but now I’m much better.

“I was a bit anxious about it but we’ve done all the checks and everything is fine.

“The truth is Mattia has been doing so well in training I let him come on,” he joked.

“Mattia was able to make a miraculous double save. Congrats to him.”

Szczesny, who turns 33 on 18 April, has been at Juventus for almost six years. He joined the Turin side from Arsenal in the summer of 2017.

Gatti goal

Juventus won the match thanks to a goal from Federico Gatti. Substitute Dusan Vlahovic’s 73rd-minute header was blocked on the line and Gatti scored the rebound from close range.

The second-half winner gives the Serie A side the advantage heading to Lisbon next week.