Sport newspaper reported that a heated discussion had brought together Barcelona coach Hansi Flick with goalkeeper Inaki Pena, after the latter objected to the German’s decision to exclude him from participating as a starter recently.
Pena remained Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper after Ter Stegen’s injury until Flick decided to exclude him from the match against Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, after which Szczesny became the first goalkeeper for the Catalan club.
Flick has always assured the Barca players that his door is open for conversation, so Pena went to inquire about the reason for his transformation into the reserve goalkeeper, but the conversation between the two parties “was not comfortable” at all.
Flick said that discipline is very important, and that Pena’s delay to the lecture before the Bilbao match was the real reason behind his decision to exclude the goalkeeper.
Peña left the meeting very angry and convinced that he would never return to guard the Barça goal again, while Flick was also angry with the goalkeeper because he was not critical of himself enough after reviewing his various positions throughout the season.
In the end, Peña concluded that he had to think about his future, especially since he refused to continue as a substitute goalkeeper, and thus the idea of leaving Barcelona next summer began to circulate in his mind and may occur.
It remains to be noted that Peña’s contract with Barcelona ends in the summer of 2026, and no talks have taken place about renewing between the two parties so far, while the management is currently leaning towards renewing Szczesny’s contract for another year.
