Anyone that has watched Barcelona this season can’t have failed to be impressed by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The German stopper has really come into his own ever since he was handed the No.1 jersey and allowed to step out of Claudio Bravo’s shadow.
He is also in the box seat for starting Germany’s defence of the World Cup in Russia.
Though Manuel Neuer might have something to say about that, the fact is that the Bayern Munich stopper has been out injured for much of the campaign, and ter Stegen is just getting better and better.
Against Celta Vigo on Tuesday, there were at least two occasions when the German left his hosts open-mouthed.Maxi Gomez had the entire goal to aim at and was central and unmarked in the penalty box when hitting his shot goalward. With his best Peter Schmeichel impression, ter Stegen made himself big and thwarted the attacker.
Better was to come as Brais Mendez sent his shot arcing into the top corner. With the ball almost past him, the Barca custodian strained every sinew in order to reach, and them palm the ball to safety.
It was an astonishing stop, and not dissimilar to one that David De Gea would make for Manchester United.
By decree, many consider the Red Devils’ keeper as the world’s best, but there’s certainly an argument to have ter Stegen right up there alongside the Spaniard and the likes of Jan Oblak, Thibaut Courtois et al.
As it happened, the German was also captain for the night, before Lionel Messi took the armband on the hour when he came on.
Just one appearance short of Ruud Hesp, ter Stegen is already the keeper with the fourth most appearances for the club and he is still only 25 years of age.
To know that he will get even better is a scary thought indeed, because there’s no real weaknesses in his game.
Commanding in his area, he can use both feet when necessary and his distribution is often as good as his outfield colleagues.
Add his incredible shot-stopping to his armoury and Barca almost have the perfect keeper.
In an era of vastly inflated transfer fees, his purchase price of €12m from Borussia Monchengladbach is beginning to look like loose change, and the biggest compliment that can be paid to him at present is that he’s as important as Messi is to Barcelona’s aspirations.
