25-year-old Barcelona starter showing clear improvement over his last season’s numbers | OneFootball

This season, there has been quite an unexpected goalkeeping situation at FC Barcelona. The team’s starting goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, is out with a serious injury till the end of this season, and Inaki Pena has taken his position in the starting line-up.

A goalkeeper who was not even a part of the Blaugrana squad at the end of this summer transfer window, Wojciech Szczesny, is competing with Pena for this starting spot.

However, Inaki Pena has not really allowed him a chance to make his first appearance in a Barcelona shirt, even though he came out of retirement to do so.

At the time of Szczesny’s arrival, Hansi Flick made a clear decision that Pena would remain the starting goalkeeper for him, and this decision is paying off for the German tactician.

As MARCA has noted, this is quite clear from the growth that the Spanish goalie has shown this season. This season, he has already made the same number of appearances as he did last season, 17, which allows for an easier comparison of how he has developed during this time.

Last season, Pena played 1560 minutes in all competitions, and this season, he has already reached 1530 minutes. Under Xavi in the 2023-24 season, he conceded 32 goals and kept only 3 clean sheets. He also conceded 4 goals against Girona, Real Madrid, and Athletic Club, but the most painful night for him was when Villarreal put 5 goals past him.

This season, he has conceded 20 goals, 12 less than what he had conceded in same number of games last season. Similarly, he has also kept 6 clean sheets, the last of which came in the game against Brest. Furthermore, only Osasuna have been able to score 4 goals past him, and he has not conceded more than 2 goals in any other game.

Thus, there has been a clear growth in Pena’s game, and this improvement has come at a very opportune time for Barcelona, as Ter Stegen is not expected to return till the next season.