Iñaki Peña will start defending the FC Barcelona goal in this Saturday's match in Vallecas against Rayo (2 p.m.). Marc André ter Stegenuntil now fixed in all the official matches of the season, will be low due to a back ailment. The lineup of Iñaki Peña instead of the winner of the last Zamora Award is another of the conditions for an important League day for Xavi Hernández's team to remain in a neck and neck with Girona, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. With very little prominence also during the previous season, The 24-year-old Barça youth squad is ready for the challenge. This is predicted and assured by his former coach Domènec Torrent, who coached him at Galatasaray. when Peña was loaned to the Turkish club in the 2021-22 season and, of the last few years, he was the one who played the most, also taking advantage of the absence due to injury of the Uruguayan Fernando Muslera. "He is a cat, I have no doubt that he will do well," Torrent stated on Catalunya Ràdio.
Domènec Torrent, when he trained at Galatasaray
The Catalan coach described Peña's qualities as ideal for Barça's style of play. "He goes well up top, because although he is not very tall, he is very brave in his starts, he has very good timing and he is a cat in the goal," he listed, remembering that at Galatasaray "he gave a lot of peace of mind and even changed the game of the team for his good ball delivery.
The experience in a big club like the Turkish one will be very good for him to face this challenge. "At Galatasaray he had a lot of pressure and he lived up to it when he played", he stressed. In terms of desire, Torrent expressed the best for the culé goalkeeper. "He deserves to do well and I have no doubt that he will do well," he concluded.
Despite having a starting goalkeeper like Ter Stegen ahead of him, Peña decided last May to stay at Barça and extend a contract that expired in 2023 until 2026. In the 2022-23 season, the goalkeeper lined up in 5 games (2 in the League, 2 in the Cup and 1 in the Champions League) conceding a total of 7 goals for a total of 371 minutes. This season, he participated in 3 summer friendlies, once starting for a total of 164 minutes and 3 goals conceded.
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