‘For his personality, his approach, his style’… Hansi Flick explains the reasons for selection of his starting goalkeeper at Barcelona | OneFootball

While there were very few doubts about Hansi Flick’s preferred starters early in this season, the return of several players who have recently recovered from their injuries has made it more difficult to predict what set of players FC Barcelona will get on to the pitch for any particular match.

However, the position where these doubts have been the strongest in the last few days has been the goalkeeper, as the last few games have clearly shown that Flick prefers Wojciech Szczęsny over Iñaki Peña.

Still, there was a chance that Iñaki Peña would start the upcoming game against Valencia, as this is a Cup game, and the Spaniard has not given many reasons for complaint.

However, speculation about who will start this game was put to bed by Hansi Flick as he addressed a presser ahead of the match against Valencia.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, the German trainer was quite clear on who will be the starting goalkeeper for this game and in general going forward: “For me, ‘Tek’ is clearly the number one.”

The Barcelona coach further explained the reasons for his decision:

“I know that ‘Tek’ is compared to other goalkeepers, and I’ve said it several times— Iñaki is also fantastic. We chose ‘Tek’ precisely for his personality, his approach, his style as a goalkeeper, and the way he plays. He has always been very good. Both are great goalkeepers.”

“We also have our younger talents, who are doing very well. The decision has been made, and we have to move forward with it. It’s not about whether it’s Iñaki or ‘Tek’; it’s about the team’s perspective, and we always decide what’s best for the team. That’s how I want to do things.”

With these statements, Flick has effectively finished the debate on who will be the starter going forward. Inaki Pena is unlikely to get many chances, barring injuries or suspensions, and hopefully, Szczesny will not repeat the mistakes that he has made in the last few games.