FC Barcelona have continued to falter in the UEFA Champions League in recent seasons. For the last several campaigns, the Catalan giants have not had an ideal run in any iteration of the competition. Unfortunately, even this season has not been too kind to Barcelona so far.
Their first game in this new-look UCL format ended up in a 2-1 loss to Monaco. With seven games still left to go in the league phase, La Blaugrana do have enough time to make up for this loss but they will need to step up and do better than they have so far.
Unfortunately, one player whose performances in this competition have hardly been reassuring no matter what has been Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. The German goalkeeper, a Barcelona veteran with a poor record in the UCL in terms of goals conceded as compared to his appearances, still remains one of the highly critiqued players of the squad.
Without any real competition, as highlighted by SPORT, Ter Stegen continues to get away without facing any repercussions. Furthermore, he continues to provide even more fuel and comfort to his doubters and those who continue to wish harm upon Barcelona.
As a result of his miscalculated decisions and unfortunate mistakes, Ter Stegen continues to cause issues not just for himself but also for his teammates at times. The recent red card that came the way of Eric Garcia was mainly an issue that the German goalkeeper created for him in the first place.
Now, with only Inaki Pena and other La Masia goalkeepers there to compete against him, Barcelona really do not have any options to properly put up against Ter Stegen and to potentially push him to do better to retain his place as the team’s undisputed starter.
Until and unless Barcelona solve this dilemma, it is true that his position can simply not be challenged. However, keeping that in mind, all that fans of the team and the club itself can hope is that the German international can improve his own performances, something that he has expressed the desire to do himself previously, and avoid making the same mistakes again.
