Szczesny felt 'scared' during tearful Juventus substitution

With a heavy heart and tears streaming down his face, Szczesny had to leave before the end of the first half of the Juventus-Sporting game.

Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny wasn’t just feeling a little off during the club’s first-leg quarter-final against Sporting in the Europa League – he was genuinely scared.

Upon experiencing chest pains, the 32-year-old was forced to exit the game prematurely. The medical team checked him and gave him the all-clear afterward.

“I am fine, I was a little anxious, but we did all the tests and everything is fine,” Szczesny told Sky Sport Italia.

“I was scared, it had never happened to me before, I was struggling to breathe and it really worried me.”

Mattia Perin replaced Szczesny in goal for the rest of the game. The Italian kept Sporting at bay, producing a brilliant double save from Pote and Hector Bellerin in injury time.

His heroics helped Juve take a crucial 1-0 victory in Turin after a 73rd-minute Federico Gatti goal.