Goodbye to the debate! Nagelsmann makes clear Ter Stegen's role in Germany after Neuer's retirement

Great news for the talented goalkeeper of FC Barcelona, Marc-André ter Stegen. The Mönchengladbach native, after years of intense rivalry with the historic Bayern Munich goalkeeper, Manuel Neuer, for the starting position in the German national team's goal, will finally have the opportunity to establish himself as the main goalkeeper of the 'Mannschaft'. The '1' of 'Die Roten', amidst the recent wave of retirements of veterans in the national team, decided to step aside, bringing an end to his career in the national team on August 21.

In this regard, although there seemed to be no doubt that when the former Schalke 04 goalkeeper hung up his gloves for Germany, his successor would be Barça's '1', it was the same national coach of the Germans, Julian Nagelsmann, who in the press conference before the Nations League matches that the 'Mannschaft' will play on Saturday, September 7 (20:45 CEST) in Düsseldorf against Hungary and on Tuesday, September 10 (20:45 CEST) in Amsterdam against the Netherlands, confirmed the Barcelona goalkeeper as the new owner and guardian of the German fortress. "Marc-André is the new number one. He has been captain in Barcelona for several years and is clearly number one there. The same with us. I don't want to artificially heat up the competition with him," commented the young coach.

However, Nagelsmann opened the debate on who will take the second and third goalkeeper positions behind Ter Stegen: "Oliver Baumann played very well last season and also left a good impression in the European Championship. Alexander Nübel also had a good performance last year in Stuttgart. The battle behind him is open, also with Kevin Trapp and Bernd Leno. The important thing is that the number one is decided."

Ter Stegen and an award for consistency

At this point, the fact that Ter Stegen could be the '1' of the 'Mannschaft' is nothing more than the merit of the patience of the Catalan goalkeeper. With his impeccable level at Barça for a long time, he had been deserving to take over from Manuel Neuer. The Gelsenkirchen native, on the other hand, besides enjoying the trust of the various Germany coaches, backed up that trust by being an extremely reliable goalkeeper under the crossbar, saving his goal with great stretches and being a fundamental pillar to start the play from the back, thanks to his ability with the ball at his feet, qualities in which fortunately Marc-André is also a virtuoso.

It must be remembered that since Ter Stegen made his debut for the national team on May 26, 2012, in a friendly match between Switzerland and Germany (5-3), he has not been able to establish himself as a regular in the German goal, with Neuer maintaining his position in competitions such as Euro 2016 in France, the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, and Euro 2024 in Germany. Now, finally, Ter Stegen will be able to face a major tournament with Germany, possibly the FIFA World Cup Mexico/United States/Canada 2026. In the meantime, to gain momentum, he will have to face the Nations League matches and continue to prove himself as one of the best in the world with FC Barcelona.