With Barcelona now out of contention for the La Liga title, one of their players has decided to undergo an intervention procedure in order to hopefully be ready to play again as from the start of the 2021/22 season.
By going under the knife this week, however, Marc-Andre ter Stegen will not now take part in Barca’s final game at Eibar, nor will he play for Germany at the upcoming European Championship.
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As he would only have been Manuel Neuer’s understudy, if Joachim Low’s previous squad selections are anything to go by, it probably makes sense for the custodian to give himself as much time as possible to get back to full fitness.
The need for the intervention also gives some kind of background to why ter Stegen’s normally reliable kicking has been well below par of late.
It’s not clear if his deputy, Neto, will play the final match of the campaign, or if Ronald Koeman will draft in Inaki Pena from Barca B, who will most likely be ter Stegen’s understudy next season.