Barcelona lose Ter Stegen for Rayo Vallecano match

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the latest casualty for Barcelona following the international break as the German goalkeeper has been ruled out for the Catalans’ match against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Ter Stegen left the Germany camp early after picking up a back injury. Despite early reports the injury wasn’t serious, it was serious enough to impede him from participating in training, ultimately leaving him unavailable for Barcelona’s next fixture.

Catalan outlet Diario Sport was one of the firsts to break the news of Ter Stegen’s unavailability. Iñaki Peña is set to take his place.

To make matters worse for Barcelona and Xavi Hernandez, Ter Stegen’s participation in their Champions League match against Porto is in doubt. Following the loss to Shakhtar Donetsk the last time out, it’s an important match that will most likely determine who finishes top of the group.

The international break has not been kind to Barcelona.

The Blaugrana lost Gavi for the rest of the season after sustaining an ACL injury in a meaningless match for Spain against Georgia.

The loss of Ter Stegen is a significant one for Barcelona as he has come up with vital saves time and time again in matches where the team hasn’t played particularly. He’s kept them in those games where they eventually went on to win or at least pick up a point.

While his numbers so far aren’t as good as last season’s, that can be chalked down to Barcelona’s dip in form defensively. They’ve already given up more goals than they did in the entirety of last campaign with Ter Stegen not at fault for the majority of those tallies.

Barcelona is going to need Peña to put in a shift as the club tries to improve on their less than convincing performances prior to the break in their efforts to climb up the table. They currently sit third in LaLiga, behind Real Madrid and league leaders Girona.