Goalkeeping Crisis Hits Barcelona: Ter Stegen’s Absence Leaves a Void

Goalkeeping Crisis Hits Barcelona: Ter Stegen’s Absence Leaves a Void

September 23, 2024 Catherine Williams - Chief Editor World

Barcelona have lost the effort of their German international goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who is expected to be sidelined for a long period of time after a “complete tear” of a knee tendon forced him to undergo surgery. That was announced by the Catalan club on Monday.

“Tests carried out on first-team player Marc ter Stegen have confirmed that he has a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee. He will undergo surgery on Monday afternoon and will issue a new update once the operation is complete,” Barcelona said.

Ter Stegen was injured at the end of the first half when he landed badly on his right foot while catching a cross ball.

His compatriot, coach Hansi Flick, reported after the match that the injury appeared to be “big and serious” without predicting the duration of the absence before the necessary tests were carried out.

“Things are not looking good for Mark,” Flick said. We have to wait for the full diagnosis of the injury, but it must be admitted that it (the injury) looks very serious.”

The 32-year-old was transferred to a hospital near the “La Ceramica” stadium and the station “RAC 1” expected him to be absent from the stadiums for up to eight months, which would mean the end of his season.

Ter Stegen, who became the German national team’s main goalkeeper after Manuel Neuer retired from international football, went down after Villarreal’s corner kick and was replaced by Inaki Pena.

Ter Stegen joins a long list of injuries at the Catalan club, who have made a perfect start to the league by winning six matches so far, as do Uruguayan Ronaldo Araujo, Danish Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal, Dutchman Frankie de Jong, Fermin Lopes. , and is joined by newcomer Dani Olmo.

Because he went through the same experience, Belgium goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois overcame the historic rivalry between his team, Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​and sent ter Stegen a message of support on his account on the “X” website, where he said, “I’m sorry for your injury, ter Stegen. It hurts me to see you leave the field like this.”

The Belgian, who was injured at the start of last season and has been sidelined for months, continued, “I hope you recover quickly so we can see you in goal again,” accompanying the post with a picture of him. The German goalkeeper after the match between his own team.