Barcelona homegrown star aiming to earn a starting spot vs Valencia – report | OneFootball

After weeks of uncertainty over who will continue as Barcelona’s first-choice goalkeeper this season, Hansi Flick made it clear that he trusts the experience of Wojciech Szczesny as his starter.

The Polish goalkeeper walked into the starting lineup at the cost of Inaki Pena, who had seemingly not done anything drastically wrong and took over his position completely in both La Liga and the UEFA Champions League.

It is now clear that Szczesny will continue as the number one choice in both competitions. With the Copa del Rey quarterfinal coming up, however, Flick has a decision to make.

Trusting Pena once more?

It was undoubtedly hard for Pena to lose his starting spot almost anti-climactically, especially given that it all started with him arriving slightly late for training before the Spanish Super Cup.

As relayed by AS, Pena is now aiming to return to the starting lineup for Barcelona at least in the Copa del Rey, especially after he has lost his starting place in other events.

Aiming for a start. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

It was a long-standing tradition for Barcelona to field the second-choice goalkeeper in the Spanish Cup and it would thus appear highly probable that Flick trusts the academy star.

However, there is always the chance that he will stick with Szczesny even for the Copa del Rey just as Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has started for Barcelona irrespective of the competition in recent years.

So far this season, Pena has played 15 games for Barcelona in La Liga and averaged 2.3 saves per game, conceding an average of 1.2 goals every 90 minutes.

With the clash against Valencia being a direct knockout game, Pena’s starting will depend entirely on the confidence Flick has in the homegrown talent.