Have the criticisms been a bit unfair that Barca starter is facing after Monaco's fixture?

FC Barcelona's first defeat of the season came against AS Monaco in their UCL campaign opener. While many had expected that the Blaugrana club would be over the game, most of the time, it turned out to be the opposite, as Monaco deservedly bagged the complete 3 points after a dominating show in front of the home crowd.

Have the criticisms been a bit unfair that Barca starter is facing after Monaco's fixture?

Overall, it was a mediocre show from the Catalan side, combined with an unfortunate start to the game, from which they couldn't rebound. However, lately, much criticism has been concentrated on FC Barcelona's Captain Ter Stegen, despite a poor show from others as well. Thus, the question arises: Have the criticisms been a bit unfair that Ter Stegen is facing after Monaco's fixture?

While there were a few instances where certainly the German goalkeeper looked a bit off, much criticism has been on Ter Stegen's faulty pass that had Barca reduced to 10 men just a few minutes into the fixture. In the 10th minute, Ter Stegen made an unnecessary pass; even though he had two passing options left, he chose Eric García, in the aftermath of which Garcia received a straight red.

Another blunder on which the German number 1 is being severely targeted is that he simply stood by and watched Akliouche's shot, which had the unit behind in the 16th minute. The last aspect on which questions are being asked is the stat, which points out that Ter Stegen made 17 missed passes, affecting the club's overall control of the game.

Analyzing these from a neutral perspective, it is evident that it was clearly Ter Stegen's fault that caused an early suspension for them in the game. Moreover, a disastrous 17 faulty passes aren't acceptable for a goalkeeper at the European stage, but what isn't reflected by the stats is what he did the rest of the game.

According to Sofascore and Fotmob, club captain Ter Stegen was the best performer for the unit that night, making quite a few good saves. While he certainly couldn't be just let go for the plethora of mistakes he committed, it was an overall off-season for the Blaugrana club that started with his fault.

In fact, Barca boss Flick also mentioned that being a human, Ter Stegen had just a bad fixture, and that doesn't take anything from his contributions to the club. Flick defended the German, mentioning,

""I think one of Marc's biggest strengths is when he has the ball, and that's our style of play as well. Maybe he made a mistake in the Monaco game, but everyone makes mistakes; we are humans.""

- Hansi Flick

Overall, it was just a nightmare for FC Barcelona, in which Ter Stegen's mistakes aggravated the front. Going forward, Hansi Flick and the team will look to analyze what exactly went wrong in the fixture and try to come stronger than ever.