Hansi Flick to Peña: It’s not personal

Hansi Flick has chosen to move forward with Wojciech Szczęsny as Barcelona’s main shot-stopper, and maintains it’s a tactical decision.

Iñaki Peña, for a good stint, was Barcelona’s main man between the sticks in the absence of the injured Marc-André ter Stegen. That was until Wojciech Szczęsny came out of retirement and signed to Barcelona on a free.

When the Polish goalkeeper joined, it seemed unlikely he would go on to be the main man, seeing as Peña was clearly improving, game by game. In recent games, however, things have taken a turn.

Szczęsny was the man chosen for El Clásico, and a few games after that, including in the Champions League. To his credit, the Catalans have not lost in the 7 games he has featured in, having won 5 and drawn 1, against Atalanta, when Barcelona’s Champions League advancement was already secured prior to the game.

Flick has been asked a handful of times now, by the press, about who he prefers in goal. He was very clear in the press conference held Wednesday, a day ahead of Barcelona’s away trip to the Mestalla on Thursday.

“Tek is number one. Clear,” Flick said.

Perhaps, he realized that the answer could cause certain reactions, or for fans to speculate on whether the decision is personal, seeing as it was so sudden. He addressed this at the press conference shortly after.

“Tek… I’ve said it before, because, really.. I know that you compare them to each other,” he began.

“I think everyone, and I’ll say this again, Iñaki is a fantastic goalkeeper. We chose Tek because of his personality, and, of course, his style. He’s really doing well. This is the way,” Flick continued.

“Both of them are really great goalkeepers, and also our youngest talents are doing really well, so the decision was the one we made now, and we go on like this.”

“It has nothing to do with Iñaki or Tek [personally], it’s to do with the team, and we always decide what’s best for the team, and this is the way I want to do it,” Flick concluded.

Barcelona’s game against Valencia kicks off at 9:30 pm local time in Valencia.