Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid with most of their squad available, but with two key absences in Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Lamine Yamal. Inaki Pena has stepped into the German's shoes, but on Saturday evening (9pm CEST) current Zamora leader Jan Oblak will face him. Former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez has named Hansi Flick as crucial to Pena's form.
The Masia product came under heavy criticism last season when he came on for the injured Ter Stegen, but this time he still made a number of crucial saves against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and most recently Borussia Dortmund.
Speaking to Football España, Roberto explained that the dynamics of the position can be all or nothing mentally. Roberto retired in 2022 and spent two decades at the top level, coming through at Atletico Madrid, with spells at Benfica, Olympiakos and West Ham, before a final stop at Real Valladolid.
The Spain Under-21 international has played for title contenders, clubs with European aspirations and clubs in the middle of the relegation battle, but underlines that life at the top of the game is easier for a goalkeeper, despite the pressure.
“Absolutely. When the club is better, the team is better, the players are better, the system is better, everything is better. Everything is around you, and all these things help you more. When I played for teams against were fighting relegation, I had to do more. You get to deal with more shots, that's normal. You lose a lot of games, but as a goalkeeper you still have the chance to make more of an impression.”
“But it is much better to be, for example, Jan Oblak, who ends many matches without touching the ball. It means you have good defenders, the team is organized and even if you don't have to make big saves, the prize is for the whole team if you win 1-0 or 2-0.”
Oblak has now racked up a decade's worth of goals for Atletico, and is still one of the best in the world for the vast majority of them. On the other side is Pena, who only has 48 professional matches to his name.
However, most agree that Pena has been significantly better than last season. The majority also thought that Wojciech Szczesny would take over from Pena if he too retired, but Roberto appealed to his own experience to explain the 25-year-old's improvement.
“The coach's trust is everything to me. I performed much better when I felt that confidence from the coach, and when I felt that my coach was not convinced of my level, I played much worse. It is very important for Inaki Pena to feel that from Hansi Flick. And also from his teammates. It's not an easy situation to replace a player like Marc-André ter Stegen, at such a good club like Barcelona, with a lot of pressure on you.”
“I think he shows a lot of personality. He came in and knew there would be doubts about him. And match after match, people are getting used to seeing him in goal. The good news for you as a goalkeeper is that no one talks about you. He's doing well, game after game.”
La Liga's top flight has had an unusually committed second set of goalkeepers over the past two seasons, with Andriy Lunin and Pena starring. In the summer, Atletico also signed Argentina international Juan Musso behind Oblak.
Does that help or hinder internal competition?
“Not every team needs competition in goal. If you have Courtois, if you have ter Stegen. I think they have enough personality to know they are number one, but they have to push themselves every day to stay that way. So they probably don't need someone on the bench trying to make plays. If we are honest about it, that change is almost impossible.”
“But it is true that a team needs a good second goalkeeper. Someone with a good personality, who behaves well, who gets along well with his teammates. A player who is willing to be part of the group, follows the team mentality and supports the number one.”
When did Roberto realize that in his own career? Not fast enough, he hinted with a wry smile.
“I enjoyed things a lot more when I was number one and I felt that way too (smiles). I suffered a lot when I had to admit that I was number two (laughs). To be honest, I wasn't the kind of goalkeeper who was happy to be number two,” Roberto said with complete sincerity.
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