"I'm in a very good moment, balanced on a personal and football level. And enjoying every moment on the field, that's important," said Ter Stegen from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum pitch. The reflexes of the second captain of the FC Barcelona squad do not fail him and he even plans to get away from the water sprinklers that began to work while he was attending to the press. He didn't see it coming. But he has reflexes to deduce all kinds of movements. It is no coincidence that part of Barcelona's success last year is his great ability to stop goals. A gift that earned him on a personal level to receive the Zamora award of the season.
"It was not an objective for me, because what worries me is that the goal is kept to zero every game, but the opportunity was given and I am super happy with what we achieved. But we are in a new season. We are going to meet at teams that are going to try to make life difficult for us and we have to look for solutions", warned the German who is already thinking about winning titles this season.
The objective? everyone has it clear in the Barcelona squad. "Looking at the last two years, the goal is to achieve much more in the Champions League. We're going to see who plays in the group stage and then, to go step by step. We have a more competitive team and we're going to try to show it, although it's often It's also a matter of luck," he said.
Earlier in the week, the third and fourth captains were voted in during a dinner at a Los Angeles restaurant. Second place will remain the property of the goalkeeper who joined the leaders' club in January after Piqué's departure. Ter Stegen, who is celebrating 10 years at the club this season, has not only gained more confidence on a sporting level. His teammates and coaching staff consider him a great leader also off the field. Involved, hardworking, a benchmark and hungry for titles. "I think we have four captains who will do a great job. We are going to try to make everything flow. It is a new situation and we have to get used to it," he reflected,
Together with Robert Lewandowski, Ter Stegen was one of the players who talked the most with the also German Ilkay Gündogan so that he could join the Barcelona club. Both have a very good relationship after many years coinciding with the German team. "Gundogan never gave me any clues as to whether he would come but I always tried to make him see this as an illusion and a new challenge. I'm happy to have a player of this level in the team. He's going to give us experience. He's a fantastic footballer. Knowing what Pep is like He doesn't need time to adapt. We're going to try to make him comfortable and take him out onto the field", he remarked.
In order to register Gündogan and the rest of the players, beyond the lever that they are about to activate, the club is considering negotiating a new salary adjustment for Ter Stegen's contract, deferring part of his payroll as this newspaper announced. "We always talk to the club. In the end, it will be what it will be and we will discuss it," said the goalkeeper who also did not want to assess the signings of Real Madrid, much less the possibility of Mbappé wearing white. "I don't even get involved in our signings, much less in what they do. They are competitive but we are going to be too. We are going to convince on the field and in that sense I hope the fans will accompany us in Montjuïc", requested the second leader of the squad after Sergi Roberto before going to be photographed with the rest of the captains to start this new era. With an average age of 28, the four leaders of the bracelet - Sergi Roberto, Ter Stegen, Araújo and Frenkie de Jong - are the youngest in the last fifteen years.
The last year that the group of captains was younger than those of the present season was the course of the historic treble of the 2008-09 season, with Carles Puyol (31 years old), Xavi Hernández (28 years old), Víctor Valdés (26 years ) and Andrés Iniesta (24 years old), with an average of 27.25 years in the captaincy.
