Tomorrow afternoon will be a special occasion for Barcelona youngster Iñaki Peña as he will make his first appearance of the 2023/24 season when the Catalans take on Rayo Vallecano.
Peña, who debuted with the first team blaugrana Last season, he had to remain in the shadow of Marc-André ter Stegen and wait for his opportunity to arrive.
And finally it has come after The German international was ruled out of Saturday afternoon's game against Rayo due to a back problem, with Peña is now ready to start in goal at Vallecas Stadium.
Peña backed by the former Galatasaray coach
Going into the match there will be pressure on Peña, especially considering that Barcelona was not in the best moment before the national team break.
But The Masia The graduate has been backed to do well when facing Rayo Vallecano by Domenec Torrent, his former coach at Galatasaray.
It must be remembered that Peña spent the second half of the 2021/22 season on loan at Galatasaray, where he worked under Torrent, Pep Guardiola's former assistant director at Barcelona.
And ahead of his season opener, the 24-year-old goalkeeper has received the approval of Torrent, who stated in Catalonia Radio: “I have no doubt that he will do well.
“He goes well up top, because although he is not very tall, he is very brave when he comes out, he has very good timing and he is a cat in the goal.”
Recalling Peña's time at Galatasaray, Torrent added: “He gave a lot of peace of mind and even changed the team's game due to his good control of the ball. At Galatasaray he was under a lot of pressure and he rose to the occasion when he played.”
"He deserves to do well and I have no doubt he will do well." Torrente concluded.
