If Barcelona were mourning the loss of Claudio Bravo, Marc-Andre Ter Stegen has surely made the grieving process a whole lot easier.
With the passing range of a goalkeeper all the rage at the moment, it feels fitting that Marc-Andre Ter Stegen found the time to break a 10-year La Liga record this weekend.
Ivan Rakitic stole the headlines with the only goal in Barcelona’s hard fought 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao on Sunday as the Catalan giants continue to come to terms with Claudio Bravo’s protracted move to Manchester City (below).
However, Ter Stegen’s remarkable 62 passes, the most by any La Liga goalkeeper in a decade, suggests Luis Enrique (below) need not worry about his last line of defence or, for that matter, first line of attack.
“Marc-Andre Ter Stegen was the fourth player on the pitch with most passes, which is outstanding for a goalkeeper,” Spanish football expert Guillem Balague wrote in his weekly column for SkySports.
“Ter Stegen gives more to the side than he takes away and he will continue to do so. He has to improve, of course, and aim for 100 per cent good passes, but it is how Barcelona have decided to play.”
New recruit Jasper Cillessen, then, has a lot to live up to. Averaging just 34 passes per game for Ajax in the Eredivise last season, the Dutch international must prove that he, like Ter Stegen, can be the epitome of the modern goalkeeper.
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