Ter Stegen may miss the Champions League final spot as Szczesny takes it

On March 19, Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen is stepping up his recovery and striving to return at the end of the season, especially to catch up with the possible Champions League final. However, since the club has registered his replacement Szczesny for the Champions League at the beginning of this season, Ter Stegen may face the embarrassing situation of missing the final .

Ter Stegen's recovery has been a focus of attention since his knee injury in September last year. According to Barcelona insiders, his recovery speed is faster than expected. He is expected to resume team training in three weeks and is expected to return to the field in mid-April. If all goes well, he can use the La Liga games to find his game form and impact the Champions League final in the best condition.

In fact, Ter Stegen resumed grass training more than a month ago and put on gloves again for goalkeeping training. He is eager to help Barcelona at a critical stage of the season, especially to replicate the success of Courtois last year - the Real Madrid goalkeeper successfully returned to the Champions League final after a long absence and led the team to win the championship, which became an important motivation for Ter Stegen.

Although Ter Stegen has recovered well, Barcelona's goalkeeper selection in the Champions League has become a problem. At the beginning of this season, due to his long-term injury, Barcelona chose to register Szczesny in the Champions League list and removed Ter Stegen from the list. This decision is different from Real Madrid's handling of Courtois last year. Real Madrid still retained Courtois' Champions League qualification at that time, while Barcelona chose a more stable solution.

According to UEFA regulations, if Barcelona wants Ter Stegen to return in the Champions League final, the only way is to remove Szczesny. However, this decision is not easy. Szczesny has performed steadily since joining the team, making many key saves and winning the recognition of fans and teammates.

In last year's Champions League final, Real Madrid coach Ancelotti chose the experienced Courtois and let Lunin return to the bench. For Barcelona, the situation is more complicated - Szczesny is not only outstanding, but also escorted the team throughout the season. If the team successfully advances to the Champions League final, but temporarily deprives Szczesny of the qualification, it will inevitably cause controversy.

As the Champions League knockout stage progresses, Barcelona's goalkeeper problem has become more and more of a focus. Coach Flick needs to make a difficult decision if the team advances - whether to choose the experienced Ter Stegen to play in the most crucial battle, or to maintain Szczesny's eligibility.

At present, this issue has not been determined, and the final decision may depend on Ter Stegen's recovery progress and Barcelona's Champions League qualification. In any case, this goalkeeper battle is bound to become one of Barcelona's biggest suspense at the end of the season.