Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as decisive as Leo Messi

Marc-André Ter Stegen is bullheaded and fits the stereotype of goalkeepers from his country. He won his battle with Claudio Bravo by being bullheaded. And beyond his technical qualities, it has helped him become one of the best goalkeepers in the world since arriving from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Ter Stegen has proven decisive in many situations this season, earning Barcelona points. In La Liga there are seven occasions in which you can point to the stopper prevnting Barcelona falling behind. The latest of those was against Cristiano Ronaldo at the Bernabeu. After the Portuguese beat Sergi Roberto and fired from the left, Ter Stegen deflected Ronaldo's effort with his foot. It's no coincidence that Barcelona have kept 11 clean sheets and only let in 7 goals.

These are the seven times Ter Stegen has stopped the team falling behind:

• Week one 1. Alavés-Barça (0-2). One on one with Sobrino (31').
• Jornada 5. Barça-Eibar (6-1). One on one Sergi Enrich (3'). Save from Inui (9').
• Jornada 6. Girona-Barça (0-3). Saved a Douglas effort from distance (12').
• Jornada 8. Atlético-Barça (1-1). A double save from Antoine Griezmann(8' y 9').
• Jornada 10. Athletic-Barça (0-2). One on one with Aduriz (19').
• Jornada 15. Villarreal-Barça (0-2). Denied Soriano (14').
• Jornada 17. Real Madrid-Barça (0-3). Kicked away Cristiano Ronaldo's effort (31').

On top of those interventons he has made several other crucial saves, like that from Szymanowski against Leganes with Barcelona 1-0 up. They went on to win 3-0. Other players like Maxi Gomez (Celta), Olunga (Girona), Didac Vila (Espanyol) and Bale (Madrid) have also been foiled in spectacular fashion by the goalkeeper.

Camp Nou has now forgotten his bad errors in the first two seasons with the club and now is watching him become almost as decisive as Leo Messi, just in a different way.