Ter Stegen won. Barça won the title, yes. But if this league has a winner that is Marc-André. The goalkeeper rose as the symbol of a team that created a wall never before seen at the Camp Nou. Ter Stegen's victory, in any case, transcends the three sticks. In January, when Barcelona was already consolidated as the firm candidate to stay with the League and Ter Stegen was already looking in the mirror of Ter Stegen, the German looked for Araujo. "Defending is an art, you have to love defending. Saving a goal has as much value as scoring it," he insisted to the Uruguayan. There is no better recipient in the template for the message you wanted to install on 1. The German's ancestry has been growing in recent years at Barça. Always important in goal, Ter Stegen had never concealed his character, not even against a totem like Leo Messi. And this winter he joined the group of captains since Gerard Piqué announced his retirement last November.
"He was excited to become one of the captains," they say from the dressing room of the first team. This time, there was no vote. Ter Stegen fastened his armband because of his seniority in the group and nobody was bothered. "He feels like one of the leaders, he helps young people a lot. He likes good vibes. He talks to everyone, especially the defenders," says a Barcelona employee. A premise that corroborates in the coaching staff. "Above all, he is very aware of Eric Garcia, Koundé and Christensen. He wants to encourage conversation, he seeks to involve everyone in how to defend", they say from Xavi's staff. A close relationship that for the goalkeeper translates into how he wants to build the new dynamics in the Camp Nou dressing room.
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"This is what we want as a group," Ter Stegen explained in an interview with The Athletic. He continued: "It doesn't matter if you're a younger player or someone with a bit more experience, everyone has a voice to say something, everyone is really important. That feeling of being able to have an opinion and having that opinion respected creates confidence in the team. It's good to see that the young players are really comfortable and that they have their place in all of this."
Nico Melamed tries to cross the barrier of German goalkeeper Ter Stegen, this Sunday. Andreu Dalmau (EFE)
The dressing room that Ter Stegen arrived in the summer of 2014 has nothing to do with the one he leads with premises like this in 2023. At the time, Xavi still commanded in a team in which the trident reigned. "There were other hierarchies and different types of leadership. In that team was the best player in the world who was Leo Messi, the best from Uruguay [Luis Suarez], the best from Brazil [Neymar] and I don't know how many world champions [Iniesta, Xavi, Piqué and Busquets]. Everything was different," recalls a longtime Barcelona employee.
Retired Piqué and already public the goodbye of Busquets, Ter Stegen is, along with Jordi Alba [the side has the exit door open], the only survivor of the last Champions League of Barcelona in 2015. And, most importantly for him, a new dynamic has been created in the dressing room. The "de guiris" group formed by Ter Stegen, De Jong and Christensen, to which Lewandowski joins when he is in a good mood – that is, when he scores – and which Sergi Roberto also joins, embraces that of the young people, commanded by Araujo and completed by Gavi, Pedri, Eric García, Ansu and Balde. The French Dembélé and Koundé, on the other hand, go it alone. The same as Raphinha. All, in any case, are on the same frequency. From the environment of Ter Stegen they give more details: "After the vacuum that was generated in the dressing room in recent years, some players, including Marc, had to step forward. We have a feeling that, as a group, they are doing well. A feeling that is shared by Xavi." "It's a family," they boast from the coaching staff.
The new order in the dressing room was not Ter Stegen's only victory. The most important one was missing. "He has recovered his level", celebrates Xavi. After two operations (2020 and 2021) on his right knee that had undermined his confidence, the goalkeeper finally forgot the infirmary. "The arrival of Xavi has been a big change," they remember from the German's close circle. With the Catalan coach on the bench, Ter Stegen has achieved the best statistics of his career in La Liga. This campaign accumulates 71 stops, far from the 122 registered in the 2016-2017 academic year. However, its percentage of stops is the never seen before: 88%.
Javier Puado shoots on goal against goalkeeper Ter Stegen, this Sunday. Alejandro Garcia (EFE)
"I have enormous confidence in Marc. He is a decisive footballer and now he is extraordinary. It is a guarantee. Marc has been decisive in many moments of the season", highlights Xavi. In the exchange of compliments, Ter Stegen points to Xavi as the culprit of his rebirth: "Since he has arrived, many things have changed; The mentality, but also the way to defend."
And the success that began in the dressing room and was certified under the Barça crossbar, went straight to the pages of the Guinness. Barcelona has 25 clean sheets in the League, a mark that equals the highest record of the five major European leagues in the twenty-first century (in the hands of Chelsea, 2004-2005) and that is only one of the best historical record (the 26 of Deportivo in the 1993-1994 course). It is not the only record that the German pursues. He has 13 goals in 34 games while the lowest number of goals conceded in a season, 18, is shared by Depor (1993-1994) and Atlético (2017-2018).
"Marc is top world. We have tried to give him all the confidence. It's not just important in goal. He is transcendental in the dressing room, in the exit of the ball, in how he understands the game ... it's spectacular," concludes Xavi. In the 1-0 and 0-1 La Liga, Barcelona's weapon was not in Lewandowski's right boot, but in the leadership and, above all, in the hands of Ter Stegen. The German already caresses his first Zamora. It will be his last win of the year. He already has the locker room and the League in his pocket.
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