Szczesny made to wait for Barcelona debut
Wojciech Szczesny signed for Barcelona earlier this week, but he will have to wait until after the international break for his first LaLiga game.
The club signed the Pole as a free agent on Wednesday, with the goalkeeper reversing his decision to retire so he could come to the team's aid after Marc-Andre ter Stegen's season-ending injury.
Ter Stegen suffered a serious knee injury against Villarreal last month, and Inaki Pena has featured in the past three games for Barcelona, most recently keeping a clean sheet in a 5-0 win over Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League.
It looks like Pena is set to start between the sticks against Alaves, too, with Hansi Flick confirming that Szczesny is not yet available for selection.
"Szczesny is in good shape and, with his experience, character and quality, I think he is the very best option for the club," Flick said.
"It's very good to have him, he will help us a lot, but he is not with us against Alaves.
"I am sure after the international break Szczesny will be an option for us. For him also, to play for Barca will be great. We will see how he is doing in training. We have a lot of time."
Barca has a tough run after the international break, hosting Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League three days before visiting Real Madrid in LaLiga on 27 October (AEST) for El Clasico.
It is in a strong position though, sitting top of the table heading into the match against Alaves, although it did suffer a first loss of the domestic season against Osasuna last weekend in a 4-2 upset.
With 25 goals already, Barcelona has made its best scoring start to a single campaign since 2016-2017, when it scored 26.
However, Flick admitted his decision to rest key starters had an impact in that loss, and accepted the players would not like his choices.
"It's normal to get angry, everyone wants to play more. Those changes had to be made. It's a decision that they have to accept, and they did," he added.
"Lamine Yamal [a 59th-minute substitute against Osasuna] complained that he wasn't receiving many balls, but now he can work on fixing that.
"We have to avoid the many mistakes we made at Osasuna. We need to have more control and possession. It is going to be a high-intensity game at Alaves."
