Barcelona superstar’s incredible season leaves Hansi Flick with delicate final call

Joan Garcia is leading the Zamora race. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde/Getty Images)

Statistically, very few goalkeepers in Europe can match what he has produced this season.

Across 29 league appearances, Garcia has conceded only 20 goals, leaving him with a remarkable goals-against average of 0.69.

That figure currently places him comfortably ahead of Thibaut Courtois, who has let in 26 goals in the same number of matches, leaving a sizeable gap between the two rivals with only a few games remaining.

Flick’s dilemma

Right now, Flick finds himself facing an awkward decision. With the title already wrapped up, Barcelona’s remaining fixtures against Alaves, Real Betis and Valencia no longer carry major pressure from a league perspective.

That creates an unusual situation, as Barcelona can rotate players freely and experiment with the squad, but continuing to play Garcia could also expose him to unnecessary risk if the team loses focus defensively during the final weeks.

As such, there is a practical logic behind the idea of protecting the goalkeeper’s average by taking him out of the spotlight for the final stretch.

In this regard, Flick could instead hand opportunities to Wojciech Szczesny or even reward a younger academy goalkeeper with valuable minutes.