The Barça goalkeeper is the leader among the major leagues in percentage of saves (84%), better than Pope (82%), Sommer (76.5%), or Courtois, (72%).
Of the 17 LaLiga games, they have managed to keep a clean sheet in 13. They do not concede a single goal in three out of four games. Against Real in the Cup, he was key again.
The numbers of Marc André Ter Stegen, FC Barcelona goalkeeper, are very clear. And they are round. Of the 17 games played in the League championship, he has managed to leave a clean sheet in 13. He has only conceded six, which is 14 less than the 20 that, on the same day of the championship, the Catalan team had received last year . In other words, Ter Stegen does not concede a single goal in three out of four games, an impressive statistic that speaks well of him and also of the defense, now already very solid with the starting quartet Koundé-Araujo-Christensen-Balde.
There is no match in which the German goalkeeper does not make a decisive save, usually one-on-one. In the cup duel against Real Sociedad in the quarterfinals (1-0 for the Catalans), it happened again. If one of the keys to last season’s debacle was his dubious fitness, the reality now is that his saves are one of the keys to Barça’s leadership and progress to the semifinals in the Copa del Rey. According to Betfair forecasts, this factor is taken into account to see the solidity of Barcelona to win the title. That Barça win LaLiga is paid at €1.4 per euro bet, and generates more confidence than Real Madrid, which is trading at €2.7 per euro bet. The comeback of the whites, this yes, has cut in lake the distance with the culés, that even so, continue being very favourites.
the wall of europe
Ter Stegen’s role is not only decisive with Barcelona, but it must also be decisive now in the German team, where the path to ownership has been cleared with Neuer’s serious injury due to his act of indiscipline for going skiing in his days off. He fell and had to have surgery. Goodbye season. Bayern are looking for a reinforcement (Yann Sommer has arrived for the moment) and Germany knows who should be in charge of taking over: Ter Stegen, a goalkeeper who has been waiting for his moment for a long time.
According to the statistics, Ter Stegen has the best percentage of saves in all the major European leagues with an 84.62% success rate, something that confirms what is being the best season of his career so far. The culé is the leader of that number among the main five European leagues, ahead of the Englishman Nick Pope (82%) of Newcastle; Sommer (76.5% now at Bayern), and especially the Real Madrid goalkeeper, Courtois, who has 72%. The big difference between the Belgian and Ter Stegen seems to be the physical state, beyond the marked superiority between the defense of one team and the other.
In addition to this notorious percentage, which favors the German, is that he has also been able to save many more points for Barça this season, than the Real Madrid player has done. The German has made saves that save points like the one he made to Jaume Costa in Son Moix or to Mayoral last Sunday at the Camp Nou, as well as in El Sadar before the World Cup break.
The ‘The Best’ of 2023?
Although his second half of the year does not seem to be enough to dispute The Best of FIFA against a Courtois who was decisive in the last Champions League, he is applying his name for the awards that will come at the end of 2023. France Football will reward the current season at the Ballon d’Or Gala and at this rate it seems almost impossible that Ter Stegen can’t win the award for best goalkeeper, understanding that Barça win LaLiga and reach the Europa League final, for example.
Twelve decisive interventions
In the League, the German has already saved up to 12 goals that were already sung in the stands. There are 12 impossible stops, of which the goalkeeper can do little. And he reacted providentially. In some of those matches, such as at Anoeta or Seville, the result was so wide in favor of Barça that we no longer count those saves as decisive. But, in matches with close results, it is worth remembering.
On matchday 1, with a 0-0 draw against Rayo, the Barça goalkeeper saved Álvaro García from a one-on-one matchup in the first half and another goal from Pathé Ciss in the final matchday. In Mallorca, with 0-1, he stopped Jaume Costa’s unstoppable. Against Celta (1-0), he left Iago Aspas with honey on his lips and Griezmann deprived him of a draw in Madrid. Against Ramazani from Almeria, at 0-0, he saved a one-on-one match very similar to Borja Mayoral from Getafe. There are 7 stops that, two years ago, would have been a goal. There are 7 stops that give a whopping 11 points.