Barcelona will host Rayo Vallecano tonight at the Olympic Stadium of Luis Companys, in a match for the twenty-fourth round of La Liga.
Barcelona aims to win against the Madrid team in order to climb to the top of the La Liga table, after the leaders and runners-up, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, stumbled by drawing with Osasuna and Celta Vigo, with one goal each, respectively.
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In statements to Radio Catalunya, Barcelona legend Carles Puyol criticized Hansi Flick’s decision regarding goalkeeper Iñaki Peña, saying:
“It is difficult to understand the decision Flick made with the goalkeeping position. The German coach misled Peña when he told him face to face that he would be the starting goalkeeper over Szczesny, as he himself said in a press conference.”
“Peña put in a good performance, proved his worth, and always acted professionally, but Flick took advantage of the first opportunity (a two-minute delay) to demote him. Since then, Peña has only played one game due to Szczesny’s suspension. The coach’s statements make the word ‘worthiness’ meaningless, because according to him, Szczesny will play everything, no matter what he does.”
He continued: “A goalkeeper coming out of retirement… it is impossible to believe that the decision is purely a sporting one. Every time he steps outside the penalty area, you feel nervous, because throughout his career, he has never played in a system like Barcelona’s. In fact, his name was never considered as a potential reinforcement for Barcelona until he hung up his gloves and retired. Szczesny was never one of the best goalkeepers in the world, and he was never suited to Barcelona’s style.”
Puyol continued his criticism of Flick: “Why do you condemn a young player like Iñaki Peña to absolute obscurity? What did he do wrong that he doesn’t play at all? This is a question that Flick did not answer, and his explanations ranged from superstitions (with Ter Stegen, we won everything) to ‘Iñaki Peña is also very good.’ Hansi did not provide any sporting or non-sporting reason to explain this sudden change.” He concluded his statements: “It is very difficult to understand his position on the matter, and the problem when a coach acts arbitrarily and unfairly is not with the fans or the press, but with his players. One of them was harmed, and that is Peña. He was harmed and left to drown, and his only way out is to leave Barcelona.”
