The draw between Barça and Junventus this Wednesday saw the Catalan team qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League. 11th season in a row as the first in their group. The match, however, also confirmed Marc-André ter Stegen as the goalkeeper in the best shape in Europe. His saves, once again decisive, brought their unbeaten streak to 18 matches.
The Messi of goalkeeping
Ter Stegen is in the same class as Leo Messi. Barça's goal is padlocked shut. And that turns into points, like Messi's goals do. The goalkeeper and the forward are the two main reasons for the team's impeccable performance at the start of this season. Leaders in La Liga and in Europe.
Ernesto Valverde, Barça's manager, knows that Ter Stegen is one of his best allies to successfully conclude his first year at the club. The goalkeeper has played all their La Liga and Champions League matches. 1710 minutes in the first three months of competition. He's only rested in the Copa del Rey against Murcia.
It's his fourth season at Barça and his performance has turned criticisms into compliments. Nobody now lacks faith in a goalkeeper who, just 25 years old, has all the signs of being Germany's headliner in the next World Cup in Russia. Ter Stegen has already shown that he's fine under pressure and Barça congratulates itself every morning for having signed him in summer 2014 for only 12 million euros in an operation led by Andoni Zubizarreta.
A normal goalkeeper
The story goes that the solitude of goalkeepers distances them from other footballers and turns them into strange types. Such a specific position involves specific training. The links they establish are normally with the goalkeeping coach. They speak the same language. Ter Stegen seems different and has managed to win over the public thanks to a natural manner unusual in a player of his age. He arrived at Barça at 22, taking on the challenge: "This was my only option".
Quietly, responding on the field to his rare errors, he has sped on to his aim: to become the master of goalkeeping for Barça. His playing style represents the paradigm of the modern goalkeeper, of whom much more is asked than just to stop balls with his hands. Ter Stegen is another player when Barça has the ball and the starting point for the majority of the plays they make. His ability with his feet beats some normal players in the First Division. His colleagues trust him and his self-confidence is unbroken.
He speaks Spanish with no problems and understands Catalan. He's completely integrated into Barcelona and has no problems sitting down with the media. Although, as any goalkeeper, he has to have some superstition. He doesn't use gloves anyone else has worn.
Road to Zamora
His save of Paulo Dybala's shot in extra time at Juventus has many precedents in recent weeks. At Leganés, San Mamés and the Wanda Metropolitano, Ter Stegen was the best. "This important thing is that Barça's goalkeeper manages to stop the few attempts that reach him", said Andrés Iniesta after the draw in Turin. The locker room know what they have.
And the numbers reflect the feeling. In La Liga he's only let 4 goals past in 12 matches. In Europe, 1 in 5. Barça can remain calm whilst its goalkeeper keeps growing. At Juventus, Gianluigi Buffon was witness to a German who seems to have no limit.