The happiest headache Flick will have at Barça

BarcelonaTer Stegen hugged Szczesny with a dazzling smile after the 4-0 against Borussia Dortmund. As if after a few weeks they couldn't become the two protagonists of Hansi Flick's latest happy headache, because football has the annoying peculiarity that only one person per team can touch the ball with their hands. If Ter Stegen is fit to compete again in May, the coach will have to make one of the most delicate decisions since arriving in Barcelona: continue to trust in a goalkeeper who retired in the summer, but with whom Barça has yet to lose thanks to his solid performances, or trust the Barça first-choice goalkeeper of the last decade. With two titles at stake, the Champions League and La Liga (the Copa del Rey final will be played on April 26).

There's the added asterisk that the two are incompatible in the Champions League. The regulations stipulate that if Barça re-registers Ter Stegen, they must deregister the goalkeeper who replaced him when he was injured. That is, Szczesny. The German and the Pole have had time and space to begin managing the situation. The good vibe between them isn't just put into practice in front of the cameras. They also share conversations off-camera, such as the one that occurred on the afternoon of February 16 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Barcelona, according to reports. Relief. It is better that the feeling It won't be long, because this encore that Szczesny is giving with the manners of a rock star with whom you want to go for a drink, he and Barça have agreed to schedule it for another season.

Meanwhile, Szczesny gives his fans performances that make them get up out of their seats. This Saturday, at Butarque against Leganés, a demonstration of reflexes in a shot by Adrià Altimira in the 12th minute allowed Barça not to see the script of the match altered, which led to a victory (0-1) As stingy as he is valuable. "Three points and we're home," Flick said. The numbers also reinforce the solidity of Szczesny's starting position. He hasn't lost any of the 22 matches he's played since arriving at Barça: 19 wins and 3 draws.

The odious comparison with Iñaki Peña

Now is precisely the best time to compare these figures with those of Iñaki Peña, who took over in Barça's goal during the first months of Ter Stegen's injury, because both have played 22 matches this season. As is often the case, the comparison is odious. Szczesny can boast of having conceded only 18 goals (0.82 per game) compared to the 26 (1.18 per game) conceded by the Alicante native in the same number of matches across all competitions. The Pole's stats in La Liga are even better, where he only concedes 0.55 per game. Iñaki Peña, in the regular season, has a percentage of 1.27.

Furthermore, the goalkeeper who emerged from La Masia, whose secretive personality has hindered his connection with the Barça fans, suffered five defeats and three draws across all competitions. Jordi Masip, The other La Masia goalkeeper who has managed to establish himself in the Barça first team after Víctor Valdés, believes this circumstance is key to understanding Flick's decision to trust Szczesny. "Iñaki was putting in good performances, he wasn't standing out for better or worse. But our goalkeeping position is often conditioned by results," Masip tells ARA. "Iñaki, I think, was unlucky that bad results came at certain times and they hurt him. Then it was time to see how Szczesny was doing and, little by little, he's been settling in and putting in good matches. Obviously, it's not easy for Iñaki, but he's a young guy [he's 26] who can continue to improve and who has a career ahead of him."

This career will probably have to continue away from Barcelona. Ter Stegen's recovery and Szczesny's renewal will create a bottleneck in Barça's goalkeeping position, which would only allow Iñaki Peña to get playing time in the event of an accident, because Flick has had no problem making clear, both publicly and privately, what his preferences are for that position. "When you see players whose playing style you know before and you see them in training, you have a feeling. I'm not the only one who decides. I have a big staff around me and we talk a lot about the players' performances and what they can contribute. It was clear to me that [Szczseny] could reach this level," Flick argued in March about his commitment to the Pole. "He does his job very well, which is why he's the number 1 now," he declared. The question is who will be the number 1 in May if Ter Stegen is finally fit to play.