Hansi Flick has confirmed his decision to rely on Wojciech Szczesny as Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper, and so far, things are going well. Whenever the Pole has started, the team has not lost a match, and against Alavés, he managed to keep a clean sheet, something that had not happened in La Liga for more than three months, with the last clean sheet coming in the Clásico against Real Madrid.
Since that match, the team has managed to keep a clean sheet on only three occasions: once in the Champions League against Stade Brest, once in the Copa del Rey against Barbastro, and once in the Spanish Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao. However, in that particular match, according to information from the Spanish newspaper “El Nacional”, there was a sudden change, as Iñaki Peña was expected to start, as usual, but he was punished for arriving late to the technical meeting.
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As happened with Jules Koundé, Peña had to accept being benched, although everyone expected it to be a one-off incident and that things would return to normal in a few days. However, Flick seems to have changed his mind and is satisfied with the performance of the former Juventus, Roma, Brentford, and Arsenal player, despite some big mistakes, such as the one against Benfica, where he gave away a penalty and conceded four goals.
But Flick has always defended Szczesny, who has exemplary behavior on the pitch, and has confirmed that he will remain Barcelona’s goalkeeper until the end of the season, leaving Iñaki Peña on the bench. Flick does not seem to care that Peña has been putting in exciting performances and has been in excellent form; he does not intend to grant him amnesty and considers that his role in the team is over.
Iñaki now knows that his role at Barcelona will be completely limited, and he will only have the chance to start in cases of extreme necessity. Given this situation, it is clear that Peña’s future with Barcelona will be far from the team, especially since his contract only runs until 2026. With Flick as coach, it is impossible for him to return to the starting lineup. Therefore, Iñaki has stopped talks with Joan Laporta and Deco regarding an extension of his contract with the club and may decide to look for a new opportunity away from the Camp Nou.
