Huge honor for national goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen: The FC Barcelona man was not only voted the best goalkeeper in the Spanish football league, but also the best player of the past season.
In addition to the Alfredo Di Stéfano Trophy, which is awarded by the sports newspaper “Marca”, the German national soccer goalkeeper also received the Zamora Award as the best goalkeeper on Thursday evening (November 23rd, 2023).
“It is a proud moment to receive both the Zamora Trophy and the MVP for the 22/23 La Liga season”, commented the 31-year-old on Service X, formerly Twitter. Teammate Robert Lewandowski was honored as the top goalscorer.
Fellow goalkeeper
It has long been known that Ter Stegen is a good footballer. At Borussia Mönchengladbach he was already involved in the team’s game structure as a goalkeeper – always ready to play and always confident on the ball, he also initiated one or two attacks by the “Fohlen”.
FC Barcelona signed ter Stegen in the summer of 2014, probably because of his footballing qualities. Since then, he has been an integral part of the Catalans’ team. He only extended his contract until 2028 in August. In the 2014/15 season, the Mönchengladbach native won the Champions League with Barca. So far he has been in goal for the Red-Blues 385 times and has not conceded a goal 165 times.
The trophy has so far only gone to top strikers
The fact that a goalkeeper wins the Alfredo Di Stéfano Trophy is a first. Her namesake scored 227 goals in 329 games for Real Madrid and Espanyol Barcelona between 1953 and 1966 and is still considered one of the best strikers ever. The trophy was awarded for the first time after the 2007/08 season. The record winner is Lionel Messi with seven awards. The list of winners also includes illustrious names such as Raul, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Luis Suárez.