Hansi Flick completely changes his stance on the Barcelona goalkeeping situation | OneFootball

Every Barcelona coach almost always has to make tough decisions at some point during a season. Given the kind of expectations and pressures on them, it is understandable that not every decision will be universally appreciated. However, even players at Barcelona can be left dishearten at times.

This season, one of the most complicated issues for Hansi Flick to resolve has undoubtedly been the goalkeeper-related one. While Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was the original choice, his untimely injury resulted in Inaki Pena becoming the first-choice goalkeeper and Wojciech Szczesny being brought in as well.

However, it now seems that the Spaniard is losing the prominence in the team that he worked so hard to get in the first place. According to AS, the Polish goalkeeper has now become Hansi Flick’s preferred shot-stopper between the posts and his recent selections have completely upset the balance that was previously created.

Initially, it seemed as if Inaki Pena would be Barça’s goalkeeper in La Liga while Szczesny would be used solely in other cup competitions. This decision would have been similar to the one made by Luis Enrique in 2015, when duties were divided between Ter Stegen and Claudio Bravo and that decision led to Barcelona winning the continental treble as well.

However, it now seems like Hansi Flick has changed his initial stance altogether and has now made the Polish veteran his first-choice goalkeeper. After starting for Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup, he also continued to start for the team in Lisbon against SL Benfica. Now, with the team back in La Liga action against Valencia in their most recent game that they won 7-1, Szczesny was once again between the sticks.

Flick’s reasoning for this was that the team is yet to taste defeat with the Pole in goal, but this decision has definitely left Inaki Pena frustrated. Even the Barcelona goalkeeping coach, Jose Ramon de la Fuente, is reportedly in favor of starting Pena but the German coach seems to prefer the new signing instead.