Barcelona are facing a crucial stretch of the season without their most decisive player from last season. Their crunch match against Porto in the Champions League is followed by clashes against two of three sides above them in La Liga. As things stand, Marc-Andre ter Stegen will be missing against the Portuguese giant.
The German veteran returned from international duty early two weeks ago with back pain, but that has not yet eased, and ter Stegen decided against playing at Vallecas on Saturday.
🚨 Ter Stegen could take painkilling injections tomorrow. @fansjavimiguel
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) November 27, 2023
RAC1 reported that ter Stegen was ‘practically discarded’ from contention tomorrow, but during his pre-match press conference, manager Xavi Hernandez declared that he would undergo a late fitness test on Tuesday to establish if he would make the line-up.
“Tomorrow Ter Stegen will be tested, to see how the pain is. He practically hasn’t trained with the group but he’s always there to do his bit, he’s one of the captains and let’s see if he’s up to the game.”
❌ Ter Stegen està pràcticament descartat per jugar demà contra el Porto, a Montjuïc.
👉 El porter alemany continua sense fer net de la lumbàlgia i avui tampoc s'ha entrenat amb la resta del grup. #frac1 pic.twitter.com/qqGpxXhPxg
— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) November 27, 2023
As per Diario AS, he is willing to take pain-killing injections in order to take the pain away and be available for the match, while it is also said that ter Stegen attempted to take a fitness test on Monday, but was unable to complete it. Losing ter Stegen is a major blow at any time, but particularly with Barcelona’s form in the doldrums, Xavi will be hoping the German is back sooner rather than later.
