Marc-André ter Stegen leading Barcelona to title

Marc-André Ter Stegen is making steady progress in his race to smash all LaLiga records.

The German netminder kept his 23rd clean sheet of the league campaign against Atlético Madrid on Sunday. In doing so, he equalled Barça’s all-time clean sheet record held by Claudio Bravo and now has eight games left to beat it.

Ter Stegen is set to become the keeper with the least goals conceded for the season. This has happened at Barça on five occasions: with Ramallets five times and with Víctor Valdés another five times.

The other Zamora trophy winners in a Barça shirt were Sadurní (3), Velasco, Pesudo, Miguel Reina, Artola, Urruti and Zubizarreta.

But Ter Stegen is on a roll. With nine goals conceded in 30 games, his record is significantly better than the records held by fellow keepers Paco Liaño and Jan Oblak for the least goals conceded in a season.

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Barcelona’s defensive solidity

The defensive solidity of players like Araújo and Balde have helped Ter Stegen, and the aggressiveness of players like Gavi is helping the Camp Nou club move closer to the league title.

Ter Stegen has recovered from the problems in his right knee that forced him to undergo surgery twice. The second, in May 2021, in Malmo (Sweden), at the hands of Dr Hakan Alfredson, proved crucial after a first operation in the summer of 2020 that had not gone well.

The Blaugrana shot-stopper has regained his form in goal and the team has regained confidence in the German.

Ter Stegen started the season with a bang and has kept turning up with fine performances. He has a historic record in his sights and his hard work is going to be rewarded. He is also aiming, for the first time, to be Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper at next year’s European Championship.