German national goalkeeper and Barcelona captain Marc-André ter Stegen has been out for almost seven months with a knee injury. He is now back in the squad just in time for the Copa del Rey final.
Shortly before Saturday’s Copa del Rey final, Catalan captain Marc-André ter Stegen is back in action. The club announced on Friday morning that the German number one has fully recovered from his knee injury, which had kept the 32-year-old out of action for 215 days.
“The work has paid off because, although it was not expected that he would return this season, he has recovered in time for the final games,” said a statement from FC Barcelona. Nevertheless, the Munich-born player is unlikely to be in the Catalans’ starting line-up against Real Madrid, with Wojciech Szczesny, who was brought out of retirement in October to replace the injured captain, set to start. However, ter Stegen is likely to lift the trophy if his team is successful.
Barcelona has its sights set on its second title of the season
The keeper tore his patellar tendon in a league match against FC Villareal on matchday 6 (5-1) in La Liga and has been out of action ever since. It remains to be seen whether he will replace Szczesny in goal for the Catalans after his return. In any case, there will be plenty of games to play, as Hansi Flick’s team is currently doing very well. In addition to first place in La Liga and the final of the Spanish Cup, the club is also in the semi-finals of the Champions League, where Bayern Munich’s conquerors Inter Milan await in the first leg on Wednesday.
Despite the return, Flick will have to do without four players in his squad. Robert Lewandowski, Balde, Marc Bernal and Marc Casado will continue to be unavailable. A win would be FC Barcelona’s second title of the season. In mid-January, the Catalans also beat Real Madrid in the Supercopa final, winning 5-2 in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia). Ter Stegen was the first to lift the trophy on that occasion too.
