Ter Stegen saves Barcelona in Germany

The German goalkeeper comes up with a crucial penalty save to earn Barcelona a point.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Barcelona from another disappointing away performances stopping a Marco Reus penalty in the second-half. It was the icing on the cake as Ter Stegen continues to make a case to be his country’s starting keeper.

He was the bright spot for a Barcelona side who continue to play uninspiring football when not in the Camp Nou. Borussia Dortmund were the better side throughout the game and had the only clear scoring opportunities.

Ter Stegen was the busier of the two keepers and did had a few one-on-ones in which he made crucial saves to deny Dortmund a chance to pull ahead.

Ernesto Valverde fielded a strong line-up that included the return of Luis Suarez up top. Unfortunately, the Uruguayan’s poor displays on the road continued as he was ineffective throughout the match.

He hardly made any runs, had heavy touches, and derailed any sort of attack Barcelona tried to create. According to Mundo Deportivo, it has now been four years since Suarez last scored an away goal in the Champions League.

Ansu Fati started the game as well and struggled on the right of a front three. He looked better once he and Antoine Griezmann changed positions but was largely ineffective and in a way it was to be expected.

https://twitter.com/brlive/status/1174055856645836801

Fati was not going to get much time on the ball as he did against Valencia and with an ineffective Suarez, Dortmund’s defenders could concentrate more on the Barcelona starlet and cut off any space for a through ball.

To add injury to insult, Jordi Alba was forced off midway through the first half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Since Junior Firpo was left out of the matchday squad, Nelson Semedo had to play as the left-back.

The only other highlight for Barcelona was the anticipated return of Lionel Messi as he came on in the second half for Fati. The rust was apparent but he had a few moments of brilliance and had the last shot of the game as he found himself almost alone in front of the net but his shot was saved at the last moment by a Dortmund defender.

All things considered, a point away to Dortmund is something Barcelona will take especially with how limited they were up front. It helped that Inter Milan and Slavia Prague, the other two teams, drew earlier in the day. That means that after one round, everyone is tied with one point a piece.

If Barcelona want to make it far in the tournament and ultimately win, they need to significantly step up their games on the road. If they continue to count on Luis Suarez to magically find the fountain of youth, then it’s going to be another year of disappointment in the Champions League.