The injury to Marc-André Ter Stegen came as a shock to FC Barcelona, who had to scramble to find a replacement in the form of Szczesny, who has enjoyed the confidence of Hansi Flick in recent months.
For weeks now, there has been good news about the German goalkeeper and in training prior to Barça’s Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund in Monjuic tonight, Ter Stegen was already one of the group.
Ter Stegen trained with the rest of the group for the whole session. First, he did goalkeeping drills with the other three goalkeepers who will be called up for the European tie: Szczesny, Iñaki Peña and Kochen. Then the German goalkeeper took part in a rondo with the rest of the outfield players.
The captain was injured on September 22nd at La Cerámica in Villarreal, with a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee. Now, there is talk of the possibility that the player may not be available this season until the month of May. A month in which Barça could still be fighting for several titles to complete the longed-for treble.
Date of return
With the firm steps that the German is taking in his recovery, the forecast is that Ter Stegen will be available by the end of April. It remains to be seen whether he will receive medical clearance before then, as he gains competitive rhythm, or just in time to be included in a squad.
Marc ter Stegen now needs to follow some preliminary steps before receiving medical clearance. After that, it will be up to the coach whether he plays him or keeps Szczesny in goal.
Flick’s decision
The Barça coach, Hansi Flick, was asked at the press conference prior to the match against Atlético de Madrid about his plans for the future in this regard, but, in his usual style, the German coach did not want to anticipate events and preferred to play it cool.
“We’ll see: step by step. When he’s better, we’ll see what happens. Now is not the time to make a decision or say anything. We have to focus on today and we have time. The good news is that everything is going well with Marc and we are happy that he is at this stage. We’ll see what happens.”