“Inaki Pena and Szczesny have a lot of respect for each other: that's what I ask of them.”

Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen declared that, for him, it was “a pride” to collect the “trophy” of the Spanish Super Cup that, on Sunday, won the 'Cules' in the final against Real Madrid (2-5), “but the effort belongs to my teammates, I have only collected it on behalf of everyone”. Ter Stegen is recovering from a serious knee injury that will prevent him from playing the rest of the season, but he wanted to be in Jeddah as one of the locker room.

In this sense, the German goalkeeper explained that, despite being immersed in his recovery, he regularly attends the Joan Gamper training complex and is in constant contact with his teammates. Therefore, he has been aware, at all times, of the problem that the club has had to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor. “I know what the team thinks, what are the pending issues that had to be resolved and we had full confidence in what the club was doing so that no one suffered more than necessary. There was uncertainty at some point, but, in the end, they did it,” he summed up.

Regarding his recovery, he recalled that it is “a very long road”, but also that he already sees “the light at the end of the tunnel”, so he was delighted with how everything is going: “I am working well, I have spectacular people who help me on a daily basis and that gives me a lot of peace of mind”. Without him, Inaki Pena and Wojciech Szczesny share the goal -the two had to play in the final due to the expulsion of the latter- something that Ter Stegen sees as normal.

“They are two spectacular goalkeepers and both deserve to play, but the decision is not made by me, but by the coach. But I think they have a very good relationship, they have a lot of respect for each other and that's what I ask of them,” he concluded.