In the current Barça squad, there are only two players left from the 'Luis Enrique era': Marc ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto. The man from Reus, who might start this Wednesday in Paris, was the hero of the 2016-17 Champions League round of 16 tie when he scored in the 95th minute of the second leg to make it 6-1 after coming off the bench. The German goalkeeper started in both matches, with the quarterfinals of the European Cup still to be played.
Ter Stegen, crucial in winning the continental title in his first season at Barça under Lucho's management, still remembers the 4-0 victory at the Parc des Princes on February 14, 2017, with goals from Ángel di María (2), Julian Draxler, and Edinson Cavani. He also recalls the 1-4 result in the first leg of the 2020-21 round of 16 at a Camp Nou that was completely empty due to the pandemic, where Kylian Mbappé scored three goals to cancel out Leo Messi's initial goal. Moise Kean scored the fourth for Barcelona. In the return leg, Mbappé scored against Ter Stegen with a penalty before Messi's final goal, resulting in a 1-1 draw.
In the Parisian temple and in his first reunion with Luis Enrique, Ter Stegen wants to take the first step to reach his third Champions League semi-final in ten seasons as a culé after the defeat against Bayern in 2015 and the loss in Liverpool in 2019. The recovery of the Blaugrana's game has coincided with the German's return after being out for three months. He has now played nine official matches in a row and in the last seven he has only conceded two goals: the one in the first leg in Naples (1-1) and the one in the second leg (3-1) in his continental centenary. In the League he has five consecutive clean sheets.
This content has been translated and adapted from the Spanish version of the digital newspaper