The player is not training and will decide on Friday if he is ready to play against Rayo
He notices improvement but he did not want to force himself because he is not yet fully recovered
Marc André Ter Stegen is still in dry dock and is a doubt for Saturday’s match in which Barcelona will face Rayo in Vallecas at 2:00 p.m. The goalkeeper, who withdrew from training with the German team suffering from back discomfort, returned to Barcelona with the idea of undergoing medical treatment to recover from these problems. The player has not participated in any of the preparatory sessions that Xavi has led and his presence is doubtful to reappear this weekend.
The club has not issued a medical statement on the player’s state of health, a sign that it does not consider him injured, but rather that he only has discomfort.
In principle, Ter Stegen had to remain in cotton wool for several days, but it was said that he would be ready to play against Rayo. At this point in the week, with just under two days left for the match, the possibilities are still open, although they have been reduced a bit.
According to sources consulted by SPORT, at this time Ter Stegen has a 50% chance of playing the game, so his presence is not ruled out at all..
This Wednesday was to be a key day to decide if Ter Stegen would be ready to play. The morning training served to postpone any decision until tomorrow.
The reason? The player has noticed a lot of improvement, but has preferred not to train yet to see if he would be even better on Friday. It will be then when Ter Stegen trains with the team and examines the state of his back by performing exercises typical of a goalkeeper. So, the decision will be on Friday.
In the event that he cannot play, it would be Iñaki Peña who would assume the role of goalkeeper, a position that he barely used last year.
Unai Hernández, with Lamine Yamal in training
| FCB
with the boys
At the same time, Xavi Hernández continues his examination of youth players to see if any of them can fill the place left vacant by Gav.Yo. Marc Casadó, Moha, Unai, Aleix Garrido, Mikayil, Mbacke and Angel Alarcón They have trained with the team. Also the youth Brian Fariñas and Albert Navarro.
In Thursday’s training session, the two missing internationals joined Xavi’s orders: Raphinha and Araujo. The two players have little chance of starting against Rayo.