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Barcelona: Marc-André ter Stegen makes mistake on momentous occasion

By Chiranjib Ghosh

Barcelona's German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (2L) concedes the opening goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on November 11, 2018. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (2L) concedes the opening goal during the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Betis at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona on November 11, 2018. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Instead of gracing his record, Marc-André ter Stegen made a decisive blunder

After starting the match against Real Betis, Barcelona shot-stopper Marc-André ter Stegen became the German goalkeeper with the most appearances in the La Liga, beating the record of former Real Madrid and Köln goalkeeper Bodo Illgner, who made 91 appearances in the La Liga.

But instead of marking the occasion with a good performance, the 26-year old Germany international made a decisive mistake which turned out to be one of the reasons why Barça lost 4-3 to Real Betis at home.

In the 71st minute, former Barça player Cristian Tello made a characteristic darting run down the right flank. The La Masia graduate then passed it into Argentine playmaker Giovani Lo Celso. The 22-year old midfielder turned onto his left foot, and then launched a shot.

It was straight at Ter Stegen. But he made a total hash of it. In an awkward bent posture with his hips poorly positioned, he attempted to grab the ball out of the air. But he failed miserably, as the ball fumbled out of his hands and into the bottom left corner.

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The timing of the goal also couldn’t have been worse. Barça were just mounting a fightback, after Lionel Messi had just scored a penalty won by left-back Jordi Alba. A rejuvenated Barça side were putting the Betis defence under pressure, but the tide turned with this goal.

Barcelona pulled one back through Arturo Vidal, but they scored yet again to make the scoreline 4-2, and effectively ending the game. The Blaugrana scored a consolation goal in stoppage time, but didn’t have enough time to register a draw.

This blunder is highly uncharacteristic of Marc-André ter Stegen, who has built up a reputation for himself as one of the finest goalkeepers in the world, and the successor to Manuel Neuer in the German national team.

In fact, Joachim Löw left Ter Stegen out of the Germany squad for the games against the Netherlands and Russia due to a shoulder problem. His body shape during the mistake could be attributed to this issue, but he should have adjusted accordingly.

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For now, Ter Stegen should forget about this, and try to focus on getting back to full fitness for the game against Atlético, where his gloves will surely be stung by the likes of Antoine Griezmann and Diego Costa.