€8m Barcelona player puts up confident display against Real Madrid – Report | OneFootball

FC Barcelona had an incredible game against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu last night. A brace from Robert Lewandowski along with goals from Lamine Yamal and Raphinha meant the scoreline ended 4-0 in the Catalan club’s favor.

Many Barcelona players were incredible in the game against Real Madrid but the biggest surprise package among them all was Inaki Pena. There was so much chatter about the Spaniard’s place in the XI after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury.

Pena, 25, has struggled to prove that he is a reliable backup who can be called upon when Barcelona needs him. At least, that was the case until his performance last night. However, the Spaniard had a coming-of-age performance against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

As per Mundo Deportivo, Pena put in a confident display against Real Madrid that should have silenced doubters. Often criticized for rushing off the line when it is unwarranted and not necessarily looking confident during crosses, the 25-year-old looked mature against Los Blancos.

Early in the game, Pena set the tone with an outrageous save from a Jude Bellingham shot. It was one of those saves that you had to see to believe it happened. It was eventually called offside in the preceding play but the Spanish shot-stopper did not know that.

This set the tone for his performance throughout the game. The €8m-rated Spaniard made good saves from two long-rage shots from Mbappe and Federico Valverde. He also had an exceptional one-on-one save to deny Mbappe in the second half on one of those rare occasions when the Frenchman was actually onside on that night.

Pena also looked much more assured coming off his line and covering the space behind Barcelona’s backline. His distribution, which at the moment is the better part of his game, was on point throughout the 90 minutes.

The 25-year-old started the move that resulted in Raphinha’s goal at the end of the game, further evidencing his distribution. It is safe to say that Pena has proved his worth in the game against Real Madrid and let’s hope he can build on this performance going forward.