Ter Stegen injury provides first major headache for Flick at Barcelona

Barcelona continued their perfect domestic record this season, but Sunday’s 1-5 rout over Villarreal was a bittersweet outing.

The game was marred by goalkeeper Marc Andre ter Stegen suffering a serious knee injury that will keep him out of action for much of the rest of this season.

FC Barcelona confirmed on Monday that ter Stegen will undergo surgery after tests revealed a "complete rupture" in the patella tendon in his right knee. Catalan radio station Rac1 reported that the injury could see the German out for up to eight months, which could mean his campaign is already finished. 

The loss of their captain will be a huge test for Barça in the coming months, who will now rely on Iñaki Peña to be their number one goalkeeper while ter Stegen is out. Peña stepped into the first team for a spell of 17 games in the middle of last season while ter Stegen was suffering with a back problem, and despite winning plaudits early on, cúlers were happy to see ter Stegen returning and were left with some concerns that the reserve goalkeeper could be a position to strengthen. 

Last season, the difference between the performance of both goalkeepers was stark: Peña conceded 32 goals in 17 games, while ter Stegen let in only 37 in 36 matches.

Yet, the Catalans didn’t bring in any new goalkeepers during the transfer window, and that means that Iñaki Peña will be the first team net minder at least until January. How well the former Barça Atlètic keeper does during this spell of deputizing will determine whether the club will look to bring in reinforcements in the next transfer window. 

Murmurs of strengthening in the goalkeeper position were already beginning when ter Stegen had an evening to forget in Barça’s Champions League opener away to Monaco last week. Confusion between he and Eric Garcia led to a situation where Garcia was sent off, setting Barça on a bad track to eventually losing their European opener 2-1 to the Principality side.

Now, Joan Laporta will be faced with a two-pronged question for January: will Barça look for a better backup goalkeeper, a replacement for Iñaki Peña? Or will they instead look directly to sign a player who can compete with ter Stegen for the top spot? 

Alternatively, the club could move to the free agents market. If Barça signed a player currently unattached with a team, they could be registered to play in the team immediately. 

Keylor Navas, Sergio Rico, Jordi Masip, Edgar Badía, Tomas Vaclik, Nikola Petric, and Loris Karius are some of the professional goalkeepers currently without clubs.  

Peña will hope to quell the club’s worries over the position as he takes the gloves for the next few months at least. The blaugrana will have to count on him for the bulk of their Champions League group phase and roughly half of the domestic campaign, at least. 

After a dream start to the Flick era, the new had their first setback of the season in that Monaco defeat. Now the German coach will have an even trickier task on his hands; building around the second-choice goalkeeper.