FC Barcelona Marc-Andre Ter Stegen suffered a blow to the knee in training on Friday, as reported on by various journalists and outlets including SPORT and Mundo Deportivo.
After initially being unable to recapture the kind of form that saw him equal Spain’s record for the most clean sheets in a single season last term, as Barca won its first La Liga crown in four years, the German has returned to top form at just the right time.
His return from back surgery has coincided with Barca at long last advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals where they will meet Paris Saint-Germain next month, and also recapturing second place from Girona in the La Liga table.
In the same week that Pedri was captured smiling on the grass of the Joan Gamper CT and beginning a race against time to at least make the squad for the first leg of the UCL showdown with PSG in Paris in around 11 days’ time, Barca has battled concerns elsewhere.
Andreas Christensen has an achilles niggle that means he will likely be rested against Las Palmas on Saturday, while Xavi Hernandez also reportedly doesn’t want to take any risks with Ronald Araujo who is expected to also miss the first team’s first fixture following the international break.
As explained on Friday, however, there was a further scare when media was allowed to watch the first 15 minutes of a training session and found Ter Stegen laying on the ground being attended to and complaining about problems with his left knee.
SPORT explains that there were tests run to verify “the state of the cruciate ligaments”, with ACL tears suffered by teammate Gavi late last year and at least three stars at bitter rivals Real Madrid including Belgian shotstopping counterpart Thibaut Courtois.
Thankfully, however, Ter Stegen was allowed to continue working with the rest of the team after “a small blow”.
Playing the full 90 minutes for his country against France and the Netherlands over the past week, the 31-year-old is likely to start at the Montjuic Stadium against Las Palmas while donning the captain’s armband.
