A few minutes before playing Rayo Vallecano, the bad news Barcelona received aside of Gavi's injury

Barcelona plays a crucial match against Rayo Vallecano in just a few minutes. After it was confirmed that Marc-André Ter Stegen suffers from acute back problems and that in the coming days he will be focused on his full recovery, Xavi had to take action on the matter.

Xavi did not have many alternatives to replace the German goalkeeper who has had superlative performances in recent years. That is why on this occasion he will have to go to the substitute, who at 24 years old has only played 1,000 minutes officially throughout his career.

Given the loss of Marc-André Ter Stegen, the one who will occupy the Blaugrana goal will be Iñaki Peña, a young man born from the Culé team's youth team who will finally be able to demonstrate all his value under the three sticks. The Alicante native has been defending Barça for 11 seasons, and his chances in the first team have been very remote, so this Saturday against clash against Rayo Vallecano will have a unique opportunity. The boy knows that he has reached a peak age, where it will be defined if he is ready to face great challenges or if his career ends up deflating.

At a press conference, Xavi said about Iñaki Peña: “he always trains well, he is a professional. Absolute trust in him.” Despite this, the numbers reflect that he has played more games in the Turkish team where he was on loan for 6 months than in FC Barcelona itself. The thing is that with those from Istanbul he managed to complete 8 games, while with the Spanish he has played five (two for LaLiga, two for the Copa del Rey and one for the Champions League, all during last season). There, Peña received a total of seven goals and kept a clean sheet on one occasion.