Although FC Barcelona hired Wojciech Szczesny as an emergency signing after Marc-André ter Stegen’s injury, Iñaki Peña had secured the goalkeeper’s position in Hansi Flick’s starting eleven.
So much so that the 34-year-old goalkeeper, who came out of retirement to sign for Barça, had to wait more than three months to finally make his debut in the Copa del Rey clash against UD Barbastro.
Barcelona’s next match saw them face Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Spanish Super Cup, a match in which Peña was scheduled to start, but his late arrival to a training session caused Flick to go with Szczesny.
The Polish veteran impressed and also started in the final against Real Madrid, where he again performed well until being sent off in the second half.
Has the goalkeeper’s dilemma been resolved?
Although Peña has hardly put a foot wrong, Szczesny’s performances when given the opportunity created a dilemma for Hansi Flick.
Heading into tonight’s game against Getafe, there were conflicting reports about who would start, but ultimately, the coach chose Peña as his starting goalkeeper in the La Liga match.
However, according to journalist Víctor Navarro, the German tactician has a strategy to rotate his goalkeepers.
In fact, the idea is that Peña will continue playing in La Liga matches while Szczesny will be the starting goalkeeper in UEFA Champions League matches.
In that scenario, the former Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper can be expected to start between the sticks when Barça take on SL Benfica in the Champions League next week.
Peña would then return again for the league match against Valencia before making way for his senior teammate for the final match of the UCL league stage against Atalanta.
It will be interesting to see if this is how Flick plans to proceed with the goalkeeping position at Barcelona or if he backs Peña for La Liga and the UCL while using Szczesny only for Copa del Rey matches.