The injuries to Thibaut Courtois and Marc-André ter Stegen have turned two backup goalkeepers, Iñaki Peña and Andriy Lunin, into the protagonists of the upcoming Spanish league Clásico this Saturday. The Ukrainian from Real Madrid aims to solidify his status as a top-tier goalkeeper, while the Alicante player from Barcelona takes on the challenge of dispelling some doubts.

Lunin will play his third official match of the season at the Santiago Bernabéu. Before the recent international break, he already had two starts: one in the 2-0 victory against Villarreal in La Liga and the other in the 1-0 defeat against Lille in the Champions League.

In those two matches, the goalkeeper stepped in due to a left thigh injury suffered by the Belgian goalkeeper, who encountered another issue in the same leg, this time in the adductor, during the 5-2 victory against Borussia Dortmund.

Lunin, a reliable substitute

Stepping in for one of the best goalkeepers in the world is not a new situation for Lunin, who last season won the spot over another established goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, in the competition to replace the Belgian, who missed nearly the entire season due to a severe knee injury.

Despite not playing in the final of the last Champions League in favor of Courtois, the Krasnograd native performed well, conceding an average of 0.92 goals per 90 minutes.

Peña aims to redeem a bad experience as a starter

A similar situation to Lunin's was experienced by Iñaki Peña last season, although his performance was quite underwhelming compared to that of his counterpart in the white goal.

The Alicante goalkeeper played a total of 17 matches due to Ter Stegen's lumbar injury. His first experience as a starter coincided with the team's worst three months under then-coach Xavi Hernández.

That Barcelona was fragmented, lacking hierarchy in play and personality, resulting in defensive insecurity uncharacteristic of the reigning La Liga champions. Peña conceded 32 goals in 17 matches, far from Lunin's numbers, who allowed the same number but in 31 matches.

According to BesoccerPro data for EFE, Peña has the worst goals-against average per 90 minutes for a Barça goalkeeper in the 21st century (1.65), making him the second worst in history after Juan José Nogués, who conceded an average of 1.73 goals in the 1930s and 1940s.

In contrast, Lunin's goals-against average per 90 minutes in the 21st century stands at 1.04, the same as Iker Casillas, slightly higher than Courtois's (0.93).

Improvement under Hansi Flick

However, with Hansi Flick at the helm, Peña's numbers under the goal have significantly improved. Since Ter Stegen's severe knee injury in Villarreal, he has played seven matches and conceded six goals.

His goals-against average this season is 0.85, a significantly lower figure than the 1.67 recorded under Xavi, although it is true that under Flick, he faces many fewer shots on goal from opponents (1.98) compared to the squad trained by the Egarense.

Despite the improvement shown this year, Peña has yet to dispel the clouds over his goalkeeping. In matches, he appears somewhat insecure in high ball situations and struggles to mark the line outside his area when teammates press their opponents.

Perhaps for this reason, Barcelona's management decided to bring back retired goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny to fill the void left by Ter Stegen. The veteran Polish keeper has yet to debut but it wouldn't be far-fetched for Flick to consider him as a starter in the future.

Peña and Lunin are the same age, but their contractual situations are quite different. The Spaniard is contracted until 2026, while the Ukrainian renewed last September until 2030, reflecting the confidence shown by Real Madrid's management, which sees him as a goalkeeper for both the present and the future.