Barcelona’s 5-1 victory over Villarreal on Sunday has left goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen sidelined for several months.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick described the injury as “huge and serious” but refrained from providing a specific timeline for ter Stegen‘s recovery until further medical evaluations are conducted.
However, according to Radio station RAC1, the German goalkeeper may face up to eight months on the sidelines, effectively ruling him out for the remainder of the season.
Ter Stegen was immediately transported to a nearby hospital after being stretchered off the pitch at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Cerámica.
The extent of the injury and ter Stegen‘s expected recovery period will become clearer following additional tests.
“It doesn’t look good for Marc,” Flick told Spanish television after the game.
“We have to wait to know the full diagnosis of the injury, but it’s true it does appear to be really serious.”
The 32-year-old German international collapsed after claiming a corner late in the first half and was unable to continue, making way for substitute Iñaki Peña.
“This injury makes us sad,” Flick said in a news conference. “When you win 5-1 at Villarreal, the fans here in the stadium, also those watching on television, saw a fantastic match.
“Also from Villarreal, [they played with] unbelievable speed and were dynamic in the match.
With great goals from us, we are very happy with the 5-1, but at the end we are sad because I think the injury will be huge, but we have to wait for information.”
Despite that, Barça have the best record in LaLiga, with Flick once again putting his faith in youngsters at Villarreal by handing first starts of the season to Sergi Domínguez and Pablo Torre, while Gerard Martín also came into the side at left-back.
“At the end, the team has good character.”
“I would say the attitude is unbelievably good. I love it, every day, the mixture between very focused and also enjoying playing football. This is what we like.
“We have to accept [the injuries]. Marc today, it was an accident. It’s really tough, but we have enough players.
Read Also: Barcelona Cruise to 5-1 Victory Over Villarreal, But Ter Stegen Suffers Serious Knee Injury
I am really proud of the team and how they played. Everyone who came in did fantastic. It was a big win for us.”
A brace from Robert Lewandowski — his fifth and sixth goals in LaLiga this season — gave Barça a 2-0 lead before Villarreal’s Ayoze Pérez pulled a goal back heading into the break.
The home side then flew out of the traps in the second half, having the second of three goals disallowed for offside and hitting the crossbar before Pablo Torre restored Barça’s two-goal lead.
Torre also set up the opener for Lewandowski.
Raphinha then scored twice to wrap up the three points for Barça, the second after a sublime Lamine Yamal pass, after Thierno Barry‘s header had been ruled out for offside.
There were some unsavoury moments in the latter stages of the match, with Yamal subjected to some rough challenges as the Villarreal players grew frustrated.
“We have to protect every player,” Flick said.
“I haven’t seen the situations so clear, maybe when analyse the game I can say more, but I don’t want to speak too much about Lamine.
“He’s doing great, he has a lot of quality, but also the other players are.
Lewandowski and Raphinha with goals today, our centre defenders, our midfield is really creative.
We are a team in defence and attack, a compact unit … a team that loves to play for each other.”
Barcelona will look to extend their winning streak as they host Getafe at the Camp Nou on Wednesday, but the focus will be on who replaces Ter Stegen between the posts.
With the goalkeeper’s injury status uncertain, coach Hansi Flick faces a crucial decision ahead of the midweek clash.
