Marc-Andre ter Stegen, on the path to history

There have been some great goalkeepers in the history of Barcelona, 123 years long. And Marc-Andre ter Stegen has made his place among them. The German reached 332 games in goal for Barcelona on Wednesday, matching Salvador Sadurni. He arrived nine years ago, replacing Victor Valdes. He’s played the fourth most games of any Barcelona keeper in history.

It would be a greater number but for some knee problems last season that he needed surgery on. He did not play in the Nations League with Germany and it was a good choice, with the stopper back to his best now.

THis season he has let in two goals in five games, with just Real Sociedad’s Aleksander Isak and Viktoria Plzen’s Sykora netting against him. He has kept clean sheets against Rayo, Valladolid and Sevilla, and made 12 saves, some very good ones included. 

Denying Rakitic and En-Nesyri against Sevilla kept the team afloat. He has let in 331 goals in his 332 games, 0.99 per game. The most important thing now is that he has got his sense of security and reliability back.

At 30, he’s a keeper with experience but also a good future ahead of him still. He’s got a deal until 2025, and could over-take the third place, Antoni Ramallets. He played 387 games between 1947-62. He’s also 78 games behind Zubizarreta, who helped sign him. Top is Victor Valdes, on 535 games, unbeatable in the short term.