Barcelona goalkeeper Iñaki Peña has joined the list of players who have rebelled against coach Hansi Flick, protesting his lack of participation in matches.
Peña was Barcelona’s first-choice goalkeeper after Ter Stegen’s injury, and remained a regular starter for three months until he was ruled out for disciplinary reasons against Athletic Bilbao in the Super Cup semi-final.
Since then, Peña has not played for Barcelona, and Szczesny has remained the starting goalkeeper. This has angered the Spaniard to the point of potentially leaving him next summer.
Recently, Ansu Fati and Héctor Victor have protested against being sidelined by Hansi Flick, and both refused to greet the coach after the Celta Vigo match.
In Barcelona’s training session on Monday, Flick was seen speaking to the players, but surprisingly, Peña left the room and was uninterested in what the coach was saying.
At that moment, Ter Stegen intervened and brought him in to the conversation to salvage the situation. However, Sport confirmed that the incident was a series of actions taken by the goalkeeper to express his anger towards his coach.
In general, Peña is on the verge of leaving Barcelona at the end of the current season. With Ter Stegen’s return and Szczesny’s contract renewal, he will become Barça’s third-choice goalkeeper.
Flick intends to rely on Szczesny in the Copa del Rey final match against Real Madrid, while the usual tradition is for the substitute goalkeeper to play in this competition while the starting goalkeeper participates in La Liga and the Champions League.
