Barcelona captain opens up on injury ordeal, relationship with Flick – ‘Feel better than ever’ | OneFootball

The season may have come to an end. But for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the coming summer could be a new beginning as he looks to re-establish himself as Barcelona’s first-choice goalkeeper.

Ter Stegen’s 2024/25 campaign, after all, was marred by a long-term injury, which saw Barcelona being forced to bring in Wojciech Szczesny.

In a recent documentary produced by Barça One, ter Stegen has given a detailed description of his road to recovery, explaining the various kinds of difficulties he had to go through.

Ter Stegen on his road to recovery

“With an injury you always suffer, but it was a very complicated seven months in general, in many ways. Not only professionally, but also on a personal level,” ter Stegen said, talking about his injury woes.

Having been out for months this past season, ter Stegen revealed that the late Barcelona team doctor Carles Minarro had played a key role in his rehab.

“He helped me a lot in this very difficult situation. I’m very grateful for what he did and how he handled the situation, because it was probably one of the toughest moments of my career. He was there when I needed him most,” he revealed.

After suffering a serious knee injury, Marc-Andre ter Stegen returned to Barcelona and underwent surgery under Dr. Joan Carles Monllau, with oversight from Dr. Ricard Pruna and Miñarro.

The operation addressed a ruptured patellar tendon, which required a long recovery process. He wore a knee splint for six weeks but started rehab within a week, working closely with fitness coach Andres Martin.

Carles Minarro played a key role in Ter Stegen’s recovery (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

During this period, ter Stegen revealed he had an excellent relationship with coach Hansi Flick.

“We’ve known each other before, and we trust each other well. He knows he can always rely on me.

“It was great for me to be around the team because I could also see the dynamics. We have a good relationship and we talk about many things, not just football,” he said about his relationship with the coach.

Ter Stegen had regular check-ups every six weeks, with a key milestone on March 31 when he rejoined group training. Despite the severity of the knee injury, club staff believe he has come back even stronger, showing noticeable improvement in his skills post-recovery.

“On an offensive level, he’s hitting more shots now. On a defensive level, he’s performing better than before,” said goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon de la Fuente.

“He can volley from his own area to the opponent’s, a fact he couldn’t do before. His first steps are much quicker,” Andre Martin added.

Finally, ter Stegen himself acknowledged he is in the peak mental and physical shape in the last ten years.

“I have improved a lot. In the last eleven years, I have never been better physically. I feel better than ever,” he added.

“I am very grateful for how, not only the Barça fans, everyone was respectful and affectionate with me when I was injured. I’ll never forget it,” Ter Stegen concluded.

Despite returning to full fitness, however, ter Stegen may have an uncertain summer ahead, amid calls from Barcelona fans to sell the German.

This comes in the midst of Barcelona’s ongoing pursuit of Espanyol’s goalkeeping prodigy Joan Garcia, who is expected to join a bigger club after a tremendous campaign.