If we look at the La Liga table, everything is ideal for the Barcelona team. Hansi Flick’s team won all six of their matches, winning 5-1 at Villarreal’s home on Sunday. his 18 points are accompanied by a 22-5 goal difference, second-placed arch-rival Real Madrid has only 14 points. But happiness is not complete at Barca, in fact! In the opening round of the Champions League on Thursday, they lost 2-1 as a guest of Monaco – let’s add that they played 80 minutes with a man disadvantage – and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a torn knee ligament in the said match against Villarreal, he underwent surgery on Monday and will be out for at least eight months will be incapacitated. Ter Stegen injured his right knee, which had been operated on twice before.
Áron Yaakobishvili joined Barcelona’s first team!
The goalkeeper, who had to be replaced in extra time in the first half, was replaced by 25-year-old Inaki Pena. The squad of the first team includes Ander Astralaga, also 20, from Spain, and Diego Kochen, 18, from the United States, who is currently injured, and in addition to the two “green-eared” goalkeepers, a third has now been added to the first team, from the U19 team Áron Yaakobishvili, 18 years old, Hungarian! His brother, 20-year-old Antal Yaakobishvili, already played in the top-flight Girona last year, and Marco Rossi recently called him into the Nations League squad. On Wednesday, Áron Yaakobishvili will be there for Barca against Getafe.
Who will be Ter Stegen’s long-term successor? Navas? Szczesny?
Inaki Pena cannot be considered a routine goalkeeper either, since 2022 he has played in 23 matches in Barcelona, 13 in the league, and he has defended in six matches on loan at the Turkish Galatasaray, but Hansi Fick said today that they do not feel pressured by being in such a situation and they trust Pena.
– Inaki is performing very well and has proven himself in the pre-season as well. He worked very hard to be here. He is focused and ready to play, said the coach, but he noted that Pena is not in an easy situation, as he has to prove himself as a substitute.
And don’t take it for certain that Pena will be cemented in the goal, because Barcelona can sign a goalkeeper who can be signed freely, and the media is already mentioning two big names: Keylor Navas or Wojciech Szczesny can also run. Neither of them has a team, the latter retired from Juventus this year. The arrival of Navas would be spicy, as he was (also) Real Madrid’s goalkeeper…
In addition to the goalkeeper question, Hansi Flick’s press conference was also in the news because it was interrupted twice, the trainer left the scene twice, to pull himself together because he had a really bad coughing fit…
Source: magyarnemzet.hu
