Injured Barcelona captain wants to follow Real Madrid goalkeeper’s example but faces one barrier | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have played a major part of this season without their first captain and their starting goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen. The German goalie suffered a serious injury in the game against Villarreal in the initial phase of the season and has been on the sidelines since then as he continues to recover his torn patellar tendon.

At the time of his injury, there were significant concerns that he would be unable to play again this season, but his recovery has been going better than expected, and he is working against the clock to be able to return to the pitch before the end of this season.

According to SPORT, the German goalkeeper has a clear example before him that he wants to follow, i.e., the Real Madrid shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois, who missed almost the entire last season with an ACL tear, but was still able to return to action in the last phase of the season and played in the final of the UEFA Champions League against Borussia Dortmund.

Ter Stegen is already in the final phases of his recovery and could return to training in three weeks if everything goes as planned. Thus, he will return to action in mid-April and will be able to play in the last few games of the season.

However, his intention to play for Barcelona in a hypothetical UCL final will have to overcome another barrier. The Blaugranes had deregistered Ter Stegen to get Wojciech Szczesny registered in the European competition, as he had arrived at the Catalan club outside of the transfer window.

According to UEFA rules, Ter Stegen can play in a UCL match only if Barcelona release his replacement, i.e., Szczesny. However, doing this will not really be easy as the Pole has been playing at a very high level lately, and has already won over the fans with his performances.