Barcelona coach Hansi Flick says goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a “huge injury” during their 5-1 La Liga win over Villarreal on Sunday.
Shortly before half-time, Ter Stegen jumped to collect a deep corner from the left-hand side and landed awkwardly on his right leg. He immediately appeared in discomfort and was subsequently tended to by the Barcelona medics, before being taken off on a stretcher.
“We are all sad because it’s a huge injury, you can see in his behaviour when he lay on the pitch and when he goes out,” Flick said after the game.
“I’m really sad about this. At this point, we are not happy with the time but it’s football, we have to accept this. At half-time, I said to the team, ‘Come on, we play for Marc, give an extra 10 per cent if possible’ and I think we had a great second half.”
La Masia graduate Inaki Pena replaced Ter Stegen, getting his first competitive minutes for Barcelona since the 3-1 La Liga win at Alaves in February. Pena, 25, made 17 appearances for Barcelona last season with the majority of those coming amid a two-month injury absence for Ter Stegen around the turn of the year.
¡Gran parada de Iñaki Peña!#VillarrealBarça pic.twitter.com/5e6fMcsNdO
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) September 22, 2024
Pena was previously a Barcelona B (now Barcelona Atletic) regular in the Spanish second tier before joining Turkish Super Lig side Galatasaray for the second half of the 2021-22 season, where he made eight appearances. He has since acted as Ter Stegen’s primary back-up. Ander Astralaga, the 20-year-old who has yet to make his first-team debut, has been Barcelona’s third-choice goalkeeper so far this season.
Barcelona kept up their winning start to the La Liga season with the victory at Villarreal. Robert Lewandowski scored twice in the first half before Ayoze Perez pulled a goal back for the hosts before the break. Pablo Torre added Barcelona’s third, with Raphinha scoring the fourth and fifth goals. Lewandowski also missed a penalty which would have given him a hat-trick.
Hansi Flick’s side are top of La Liga with six wins from six and face Getafe at home on Wednesday in their next fixture.
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
