Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen believes that his team’s harrowing eliminations from the champions league have to do with the mentality of the players, rather than tactical failings.
The reigning La Liga champions Barcelona have been forced to live through two consecutive shock eliminations from the Champions League; first when they lost 3-0 in Rome in April 2018 to exit the competition at the quarter-finals stage.
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Then 12 months later, Ernesto Valverde‟s side let a 3-0 first-leg lead slip against Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of last season‟s semi-final led them to lose 4-0, missing out on their first final appearance since winning the European Competition in 2015 for the fifth time in their history.
Barcelona’s head coach has been under intense scrutiny from these losses but the German International keeper says the problem is “psychological‟ and the players, not tactics, are to blame.
“These results didn’t come through tactical issues, it was psychological,” Ter Stegen told German Magazine 11 Freunde, as per Marca.
“One must look into those psychological issues deeply. This is why I would never say that this can‟t happen to us again.”
“We were all frozen because there was no explanation. You ask yourself: „How can I explain in a plausible manner how we didn’t qualify after winning the first leg 3-0?”
The 27-year-old has firmly established himself between the posts at Camp Nou since joining for €12m in 2014 from Borussia Monchengladbach, making 202 appearances for the club to date.
Ter Stegen has suited the styles of Barcelona perfectly well and the goalkeeper feels he is developing rapidly by playing in such a system.
“I want to be a positive presence for Barcelona,” he added.
“I want to contribute to the style of play.” Tribune
His growing talent and dominant performance between the post have propelled him to be in the conversation for being among the best goalkeepers in world football.
Barcelona had endured a tough start to the current La Liga campaign, losing points in three of their five opening league games. but they have managed to bounce back splendidly, and are at top of the table after earning wins in their last five league outings. Only time will tell about the fate of the team’s champions league performance.
However, Barcelona’s main issue lies with the fact that they have lost their identity through the years. Barcelona has always been about being themselves and following their philosophy, which they try to impose every single game.
It is a team that did not have a single trophy before 1999, but has since won five champions league all because of their obsession with their philosophy and trusting in themselves.
Their ideology was never about winning or losing, but about being themselves. And with Ernesto Valverde‟s side humiliating performance in the exits from two consecutive champions league competition along with losing the 2019 Copa Del Rey Final against Valencia, it is really tough for any Barcelona supporter to say that they were true to their philosophy.