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Barcelona arrives at its clash against Atlético de Madrid with most of its squad available, but with two key absences: Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Lamine Yamal. Iñaki Peña has put himself in the German’s shoes, but facing him on Saturday night (9:00 p.m. CEST) will be the current leader of Zamora, Jan Oblak. Former Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez has cited Hansi Flick as crucial to Peña’s form.
The Masia product faced heavy criticism last season when he replaced the injured ter Stegen, but this time he made several crucial saves against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and, most recently, Borussia Dortmund.
In conversation with Football España, Roberto explained that the dynamics of the position mentally can be all or nothing. Roberto, who will retire in 2022, spent two decades at the highest level, with spells at Atlético Madrid, Benfica, Olympiakos and West Ham, before a final stop at Real Valladolid.
Raphinha: “If you play for Barcelona you have to think about winning everything. If you don’t think like that, you’re on the wrong team.” @MovistarFutbol
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 19, 2024
The Spain under-21 international has played for title contenders, clubs with European aspirations and those in the middle of a relegation battle, but he stresses that life is easier for a goalkeeper in the elite, despite the pressure. .
“Absolutely. If the club is better, the team is better, the players are better, the system is better, everything is better. Everything is around you and all these things help you more. When I played in teams that were fighting for relegation “I had to do more, you face more shots, that’s normal. You lose a lot of games, but still, as a goalkeeper, you have the chance to impress more.”
“But it is much better to be Jan Oblak, for example, who finishes many games without touching the ball. It means that you have good defenders, the team is organized and, although you don’t have to make great saves, the reward goes to the whole team when you win 1-0 or 2-0.”
Oblak has spent a decade in goal for Atlético and has remained one of the best in the world for the vast majority of that time. On the opposite side is Peña, who has only 48 professional games to his name.
🚨 Antoine Griezmann has been classified as the 41st best player in the world in 2024 by ‘The Guardian’. Julián Álvarez is in 55th place and Álvaro Morata is in 70th place. pic.twitter.com/psshgvk7GD
— Universo Atlético (@architetturauniverse) December 20, 2024
However, most would agree that Peña has been noticeably better than last season. Most also thought that Wojciech Szczesny would replace Peña when he came out of retirement, but Roberto drew on his own experience to explain the 25-year-old’s improvement.
“The coach’s trust is everything to me. I have played much better when I have felt that confidence from the coach, and when I have felt that my coach is not convinced of my level, I have played much worse. For Iñaki Peña it is very important to feel that way about Hansi Flick. And also from his companions.
“It is not an easy situation to replace a player like Marc-André ter Stegen, in a club as good as Barcelona, with a lot of pressure on you.”
“I think he’s showing a lot of personality. He came in and knew there would be doubts about him. And game by game, people get used to seeing him in the goal. The good news for you as a goalkeeper is that no one is talking about you. “He is doing well, game by game.”
La Liga’s top flight has had an unusually involved second string of goalkeepers in the last two seasons, with Andriy Lunin and Peña highly featured. In the summer, Atlético also signed Argentine international Juan Musso behind Oblak.
Does that internal competition help or hinder?
“Not all teams need competition in goal. If you have Courtois, if you have ter Stegen. I think they have enough personality to know they are number one, but they have to work hard every day to stay that way. So they probably don’t need someone on the bench trying to play. If we are honest, achieving that change is almost impossible.”
Tremendous save by Iñaki Peña#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/okrdz5TsPJ
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 7, 2024
“But it is true that a team needs a good second goalkeeper. Someone with a good personality, who behaves well, who gets along well with his colleagues. A player who is willing to be part of the group, following the team mentality and supporting the number one.”
When did Roberto realize that in his own career? Not soon enough, he hinted with a wry smile.
“I enjoyed things a lot more when I was number one and I felt that way (smiles). I suffered a lot when I had to admit that I was number two (laughs). To be honest, I wasn’t the type of goalkeeper who was happy to be number two,” Roberto said with complete sincerity.
