BARCELONA, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Last Tuesday, FC Barcelona beat CA Osasuna at the Camp Nou (1-0) adding one more victory by the minimum that makes Xavi Hernández’s men caress the LaLiga Santander title, taking 14 points from their top pursuer, Real Madrid, with 15 left to play.
The match against Osasuna, moreover, was Marc-André Ter Stegen’s 250th match with the FC Barcelona shirt in LaLiga. A figure only reached by three other goalkeepers in the club’s history: Ramallets (288), Zubizarreta (301) and Víctor Valdés (387). The German is already one of the club’s historical figures at 30, having played 9 seasons and being one of the captains.
After not conceding against Osasuna, Ter Stegen became the European goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in a season in the history of the five major European leagues with 25, surpassing the mark of Peter Cech (2004/05) and Jan Oblak ( 2015/16), both with 24.
The German goalkeeper is having his best league campaign since he arrived at the Blaugrana club in the summer of 2014, being then one of the most promising European goalkeepers at the age of 22. Despite this, in his early days, it was difficult for him to take ownership, which he alternated with Claudio Bravo, who also came to the club that same year. But as the seasons went by, he had the confidence of each and every one of the coaches who worked on the bench; Luis Enrique, Ernesto Valverde, Quique Setién, Koeman and Xavi.
Confidence backed by their numbers. Since he took the title in the regularity tournament in 2016/17, only one campaign has conceded more than one goal per game. In fact, this season is being his best year in this figure, collecting the ball from the back of his goal 0.33 times per game.
In terms of goals prevented (goals conceded minus expected goals against), Ter Stegen’s season is also outstanding. The Barça goalkeeper has prevented 6 goals so far in the championship, being the 5th best goalkeeper in the five major leagues, and first in LaLiga, which has saved the most goals this season. However, it is not his best year in this statistic, since in 2017/18 with 8 and 2018/19 with 7 they were better.
The FC Barcelona goalkeeper goes straight for his first Zamora, an award that, to a large extent, will sustain him in his excellent percentage of saves (86%), the highest since he arrived in the Catalan capital, and the best of all the goalkeepers in the five major leagues this season.
But if something has always stood out, it is because of his footwork. The German international is one more in the team’s ball output, with numbers that Busquets himself could sign. This season an 83% success rate in his passes, a record that has risen to 84% since he arrived in LaLiga. Because of his position, without forgetting that he has the honor of having given two goal assists in the 250 games he has played.
Nine Leagues as a ‘culer’, with four titles won, with the fifth more than on track, which would make him the third goalkeeper in the history of Barça with the most league titles, just behind the 6 leagues won by Ramallets and Víctor Valdés .