"It was hard for me to be Bravo's understudy"

It is 10 years since Ter Stegen signed for Barcelona. The German goalkeeper is a leader in the Barca dressing room and celebrated his decade as a 'Cule' with an interview on the 'Barca One' platform with the legendary Andoni Zubizarreta.

"Gambling on a young goalkeeper like me could have worked out well or badly. Claudio had already played at La Real, he knew La Liga and he proved it in the two years he was there; he was spectacular. All I had to do was work and complain... and that's what I did," he began about his substitution in his first few months.

"In the first two years, the day-to-day was more planned to meet Claudio's needs and I needed other things. When it was my turn to play I had two or three days of more specific preparation for myself. I arrived without speaking the language of the others, at the beginning it's hard for you," he reflected.

Ter Stegen also spoke about Inaki Pena's situation: "Inaki wants to play and I understand him. The time will surely come for him to succeed, whether it's here or elsewhere, but day-to-day life in goal isn't easy. It happens to me in the national team. It's always tense. At Barca now the day to day is more planned to my needs. It's impossible to find the right balance so that everyone is happy.

"Inaki is quite similar to me and that's where the difficulty lies. We work on a day-to-day basis (...). I can tell him that if he needs me I'm there, almost as if he were my son, knowing what happened to me at the beginning, when I didn't play, I was angry. You have to turn that around and if you don't change the mindset, you stay with the negativity", he added.

The German goalkeeper also praised the role of Cubarsi after his breakthrough this season: "A super-reliable centre-back. I had to help him, it was more emotional, like after the tough defeat against PSG".

"Out of responsibility towards the team, you have to talk to some in one way and others in another. The youngsters have different problems to the veterans, they will realise that in a few years, when they have children," he joked.

Zubizarreta also asked him about his good footwork: "Because of the style we have, what stands out the most is this, because you see me a lot with the ball at my feet. You told me when you signed me, that 'here you only get one or two chances in a game' and that was the biggest difficulty, that 'Barca's goal was bigger than any other'. You prepared me and I still follow those words today, because although I like what I'm doing, there is always extra pressure at Barca and it's not easy to handle it, especially now with social networks, you can go crazy".

 

May 22, 2024