FC Barcelona’s Berlin Wall will be recorded in history again

The goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, nicknamed ‘The Berlin Wall’ for his skills, is going to reach 387 matches for FC Barcelona when he plays against FC Porto. He will soon become the goalkeeper with the third-most appearances for the club matching Antoni Ramallets’ record. Only two goalkeepers, Víctor Valdés [536] and Andoni Zubizarreta [410], will have more appearances than him.

Regarding non-Spanish players with the most appearances, he stands in third place. Only behind Lionel Messi [778] and Dani Alves [391]. Even after being through five coaches, he has always donned that No. 1 shirt. It was only in his first season when he alternated with another goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo, for the starting XI position. Since then, he has come a long way.

Career so far for FC Barcelona’s shot-stopper

The German started his career at hometown club Borussia Mönchengladbach. Moving up the ranks, he established himself as the star of the reserves team. The goalkeeper’s reputation led to a few bench cameos with the first team. Mönchengladbach were struggling to avoid relegation and with a new manager, things changed. The team was doing better, but their goalkeeper was a different story.

After inconsistent performances by the starting goalkeeper, ter Stegen was employed for the last five games of the season. The German didn’t disappoint keeping four clean sheets. Later, Logan Bailly Mönchengladbach’s first-choice keeper was sent on a loan to a Swiss club helping ter Stegen cement his position as the first-choice goalkeeper for his boyhood club. After 18 years at the club ter Stegen left in 2014 signing a contract with the Blaugrana.

In his first season at the Catalan capital, he was only a starter in Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League. Later he extended that role in La Liga after the departure of first-choice goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to Manchester City. Since then he has been nothing less than phenomenal. The Berlin Wall has played a major role in big matches like the 6-1 La Remontada against Paris Saint Germain.

He has won many accolades with Barcelona. The German has secured five La Liga and Copa Del Rey titles, two Super Copa de España and one UCL, UEFA Super Cup and a Club World Cup. He won one Zamora Trophy individually and was included in the ESM Team of the Year multiple times.