Report – Hansi Flick’s plan for the Barcelona goalkeeping spot for upcoming matches | OneFootball

Even though FC Barcelona roped in Wojciech Szczesny as an emergency signing after Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s injury, Inaki Pena had the goalkeeping spot locked in as far as Hansi Flick’s starting lineup was concerned.

So much so that, the 34-year-old goalkeeper, who came out of retirement to sign for Barça, had to wait for over three months to finally make his debut in the Copa del Rey clash against UD Barbastro.

Barcelona’s next game saw them take on Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final – a game where Pena was pencilled in to start but his being late for a training session saw Flick go with Szczesny instead.

The veteran Pole impressed and earned a start in the final against Real Madrid as well, where he again performed well until being sent off in the second half.

The goalkeeping dilemma solved?

While Pena has barely put a foot wrong, Szczesny’s performances when given a chance created a dilemma for Hansi Flick.

Pena for the league, Szczesny for UCL? (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Heading into tonight’s Getafe game, there were conflicting reports about who would start, but ultimately, the manager has gone in with Pena as his starting goalkeeper in the La Liga encounter.

However, according to journalist Victor Navarro, the German tactician has a strategy to rotate his goalkeepers.

Indeed, the idea is that Pena will continue playing the matches in La Liga while Szczesny will be the starting goalkeeper in the UEFA Champions League games.

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.

Pena would then again return for the league game against Valencia before making way for his senior teammate for the final UCL league-phase match against Atalanta.

It will be interesting to see if this is indeed how Flick plans to proceed with the goalkeeping position at Barcelona or whether he backs Pena for La Liga and the UCL while using Szczesny only for the Copa del Rey games.