Inaki Pena’s rise to cementing his place in Barcelona’s first team has not come as a surprise to many, especially given his steady performances and Hansi Flick’s trust in him.
Even with the addition of experienced goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, Pena’s continued presence in the starting lineup has been a positive outcome for both him and the team.
Interestingly, Pena’s statistics show a marked improvement compared to the previous one. While keeping a clean sheet remains a challenge, his overall numbers have seen significant progress.
Pena’s statistics from last season
To put things in perspective, this season, he has started in the same number of matches as last season, 17 across all competitions, but has conceded 12 fewer goals.
In the 2023-24 season, Pena played for a total of 1,560 minutes, while this season he has logged 1,530 minutes. Last season, he allowed 32 goals and kept just three clean sheets, one of which came in a memorable victory over Atletico Madrid.
That game was particularly significant as Pena produced a strong performance that helped secure a crucial 1-0 win for the team.
Inaki Pena has improved a lot this season. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Despite a few tough defeats last year, including heavy losses to Girona, Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final, and Athletic Club in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, Pena has shown resilience.
Turning point
A key turning point for Pena came at the end of September when Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s injury opened the door for him to become the first-choice goalkeeper. Since then, his performances have improved significantly.
In the current season, he has conceded 20 goals, 12 fewer than in the previous campaign, despite starting the same number of games and almost playing the same amount of minutes.
He has also managed to keep a clean sheet on six occasions, with his latest shutout coming in a Champions League match against Brest. Furthermore, one notable improvement this season is the lack of heavy defeats.
Apart from the 4-2 loss to Osasuna, which marked Barcelona’s first La Liga defeat of the season, Pena has kept the scorelines more manageable, with no more than two goals conceded in most matches.
This steady progress has shown that Pena is growing into his role and becoming a more reliable figure in Barcelona’s goal.