The return of club competitions opened the debate on ownership in the Barça goal to cover Ter Stegen’s long absence due to injury. The distrust that has been generated in the hitherto substitute Iñaki Peña and the corresponding signing of the retired Szczesny gave rise to a supposed change in favor of the Polish goalkeeper, anticipating that he would have acquired the ideal state in these fifteen days of break, under the supervision of the daily work of De la Fuente, the excellent Blaugrana goalkeeping coach. On the eve of facing a trio of high-voltage matches like those that Flick’s eleven had ahead of them, against Sevilla and Bayern at the Lluís Companys stadium, plus the subsequent visit to the Bernabéu, expectations for change were raised.
However, in the run-up to yesterday’s game, the German coach could not have been more emphatic when he closed down any speculation, ensuring Peña’s continuity, at least, in the first two games. A wise and intelligent decision, if we take into account that, despite the doubts that his disputed ownership may raise, the Alicante goalkeeper had just added performances with an undefeated goal without conceding a goal. Under this premise it would have been unfair to relegate him to substitute without any ruling to justify it. It cannot be overlooked that the signing of Szczesny was not due to a lack of confidence in Iñaki, but rather to the void that opened between the until then second goalkeeper and his immediate followers in the club’s goalkeeping ranks, Ander Astralaga and Diego Kochen , which, due to their extreme youth, would expose them to pressure inappropriate for their age.
The goalkeeper position is the most specific. Confidence in its figure must be essential for its occupant to offer maximum performance. There were goalkeepers who did not accept having competitors as substitutes who questioned their ownership. This was the case of Valdés, along with Ramallets, the best goalkeeper in Barcelona history, who categorically rejected the signing of Palop. Another curious event involved Sadurní and Reina, who cohabited for eight seasons as high-level goalkeepers, until in one of them, coach Vic Buckingham made the Solomonic decision to alternate between them as starters. In the home games, the player from Arbós, who enjoyed the approval of the Camp Nou, played, and in the away games, the player from Córdoba played.
Defending Barça’s goal entails a special responsibility, because the opposing forwards arrive on rare occasions in which, under the magnifying glass, they cannot fail. Let’s not put more responsibility on Iñaki Peña because it won’t help at all.
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