Since the serious injury suffered by Marc Andre Ter Stegen, the goalkeeping position at FC Barcelona has come under a lot of attention in the media.
The main debate revolving around this position some days ago was about who will be the starting goalkeeper for the team. This was particularly the case after Wojciech Szczesny’s arrival, but Flick’s preferences and Inaki Pena’s performances in the last few weeks have eliminated any doubts about this issue.
These two are going to be the first two goalkeepers for Barcelona, but there is also stiff competition going on for the third goalkeeper place in the first team, as both Diego Kochen and Ander Astralaga are candidates for this role.
This season, Ander Astralaga was the third keeper in Flick’s team, while Kochen started between the sticks for Barcelona Atletic. The latter of these goalies, Kochen, was able to play only four games in the last season, as he was almost always called up for the first team, and to provide him more continuity, he started the season with the B team.
However, an injury kept him out of action for several weeks, but since his recovery, he has been in the first-team dynamic, until today, when he returned to the reserve team.
Meanwhile, Sczcesny’s arrival and Kochen’s injury made Astralaga start five games with Barcelona Atletic. However, as SPORT has reported, the Basque goalkeeper returned to train under Flick and could be the first team’s third goalkeeper for the coming matches.
Thus, Kochen will once again be the starting goalkeeper for the B team. His stature and the safety he provides between the sticks made Barcelona make him a part of the first team last season, but he also needs greater continuity on the pitch, and thus his role will alternate between the first team and Barcelona Atletic.
Furthermore, this move also highlights the policy that the club has now adopted regarding these two promising goalies, i.e., exchanging their roles throughout the season to ensure neither of them is left behind in his development.