Marc André ter Stegen was happy on Sunday on the field in the Olímpic Lluís Company after the victory of Barça over Girona.
As a captain, he was responsible for presenting Eric Garcia with a shirt with his name and number 100, the number of games that the resident of Martorell played for the first team of Blaugrana
The German keeper has reason to be happy. The progress of the team is excellent and his recovery is going well. On March 22 it will take six months since Ter Stegen was injured against Villarreal in the Estadio de la Cerámica. The German suffered a serious fall and completely tore the knee tendon in his right knee. A day later he underwent surgery by Dr. Joan Carles Monllau under the supervision of club doctors. He was not given free time, but these kinds of injuries require a recovery period between six and eight months.
A long and hard road then started for Ter Stegen, who worked from that day to play again before the end of the season. His recovery went very well everywhere, and it was more than a month since he turned on his gloves and started following some training on the field. About ten days ago, FC Barcelona actually shared some images that the goalkeeper showed during his recovery: fieldwork, strength training, stability training, ball exercises, but also impressive rescues of shots by goalkeeper coach José Ramón de la Fuente.
Last week the club shared more images of Ter Stegen training and works in Doel, which flew past one of its biggest supporters, De la Fuente. And the news could not be more positive for the German and for Barça, because the goalkeeper feels very good and has no discomfort in his surgically repaired knee. His recovery is so good that Ter Stegen is expected to return to the training with the group after the quarterfinal draw of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.
Will he play?
Returning to training with the group will be a big step for Ter Stegen. He already supports the team as a captain and will be able to do this from a further perspective. His goal will be to be able to play another game again before the end of the season, although that can depend on the situation of Flick's team in all competitions, such as Szczesny, the keeper who retired for the German, is currently performing at a high level.
If his right knee continues to recover as it has been, Ter Stegen will have a better chance to play in La Liga, especially if Barça can turn things around for the last matchday. It seems unlikely that he will be able to do this in the Champions League if the Catalans Borussia Dortmund eliminate and reach the semi -final. Ter Stegen was rejected from European competition to register Szczesny, and if the German wants to play, the pole would be left without a contract.
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