BARCELONA -- Wojciech Szczesny wouldn't have believed you if you'd suggested he would be playing in the Clásico at the start of the season. He had retired from football, moved to Marbella in the south of Spain and was more concerned with lowering his handicap in golf. But he can win his second trophy as a Barcelona player on Saturday, when the LaLiga leaders meet Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final in Seville. (stream LIVE from 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
Perhaps this twist, one of the most unlikely tales in European football this year, was always the destiny for a player who, in many ways, bucks the trend of the modern-day footballer.