The Camp Nou sends siren songs to Messi. Lewandowski seems to have missed the goal. Pedri and De Jong have been injured. Dembélé will reappear on Saturday. And the central pair changes often. The only one who has had continuity in this Barça, the one who has never failed, is Ter Stegen. The German goalkeeper is the common denominator of this league and the differentiating factor for the Barcelona team to be so close to being crowned champions.
Ter Stegen has record numbers. No one has been more regular at the highest level than the German, who has only conceded 9 goals in 30 games. In up to 23 league matches, Barcelona have kept a clean sheet. These are brilliant numbers, never seen before either in the club or in the League. On the way to his first Zamora, he has beaten all his personal bests and can surpass the historical bests in the First Division, such as the 18 goals scored by Liaño (1993-1994) and Oblak (2015-2016).
The goalkeeper, who turns 31 on Sunday, has done so reborn after a course in which he had lost his savior aura, after two operations in close succession on his right knee, in May 2021 and August 2020. Although this, Xavi kept him and protected him with words in the press room. "To train him, it has been an advantage for me to know him. We were companions. I know what his personality is, I know that he is a very methodical person and a perfectionist", confesses the technician. This already gives an idea of Ter Stegen's acclimatization at the club, where he has been for nine years.
In the previous six seasons as undisputed starter – the first two he competed with Bravo – he never received less than 28 goals in the championship. Last Liga collected the ball 34 times in the net and only put the bolt in 10 matches. The night and the day. "Marc was aware that he had to improve compared to last year. Both he and De la Fuente, the goalkeeping coach, have worked hard", confirms Xavi. Ter Stegen rested this summer and did not go with Germany to the Nations League to start at full speed and without discomfort.
Griezmann's two stops on Sant Jordi Sunday are added to the list of saving interventions in this League, among which there is another one at the corner of the Frenchman at the Metropolitano, the one that stopped Aspas in the Camp Nou, the one against one that brought out Ramazani and Borja Mayoral, who faced it alone, Jaume Costa's shot at Son Moix. Rayo, tonight's opponent, was the first to suffer it in mid-August. Álvaro García and Salvi were almost celebrating when they met the Germanic. "This year is at an extraordinary level. I would say that he is currently the best goalkeeper in the world. And more for the game we want. For me it's a peace of mind to have Marc in goal", Xavi decides.
Since the League returned on New Year's Eve after the World Cup, Barça have scored more than two goals in only two games (at Sevilla and Elche). And when the scores are so tight it is insurance to have a decisive goalkeeper. At the Camp Nou he has just conceded two goals (one from a penalty and an own goal) and now he has gone 441 minutes unbeaten after 636 at the beginning of the League. "We are not looking for records", says Xavi. Ter Stegen, yes.
