Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez announced that the Catalan club has made up its mind and will not include a new goalkeeper in the winter transfer period to replace the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen, stressing absolute confidence in the abilities of the current goalkeeper, Iñaki Peña.
Stegen will not return to the field before next March after undergoing back surgery, and newspapers have circulated that Barcelona is considering including a goalkeeper for a period of six months to succeed the German at Camp Nou.
In the press conference for the Girona match, Xavi spoke about this, saying, "We will not include a replacement for Stegen. We will not do that. We have great confidence in our players. Iñaki Peña is amazing and is always ready to participate."
He also added, "Iñaki was an example for everyone in the locker room. He trained with all his might, and this is the behavior I want from every player we have."
Barcelona loaned its defender Eric Garcia to Girona, and although most of the loan contracts prohibit their participation against their original clubs, Xavi revealed a secret that was the reason for the absence of this condition in the contract of the former Blaugrana player.
Xavi said in this regard, "Eric Garcia will play against us because his departure came in the last moments of the transfer period and we did not have time to add the condition that he not participate against us."
He continued, "He is having a great season and I am really happy for him, but playing for Barcelona is completely different from playing for Girona."
Speaking about the match in general, Xavi concluded, “We will play tomorrow against the leaders of the standings. It will be a difficult match, but our goal is clear, which is to win.”
It is noteworthy that Girona shares the lead in the Spanish League with Real Madrid with 38 points each, while Barcelona occupies third place with 34 points.
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