After the painful elimination from the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, the disappointment at FC Barcelona was immense. Coach Xavi complained about the referee, but Ter Stegen has a different opinion.
German national goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen publicly disagreed with his coach Xavi after FC Barcelona’s elimination from the Champions League. Unlike the coach, the goalkeeper saw the red card given to his teammate Roland Araujo as a justifiable decision.
“We expected PSG to play like this. In the end, you are down to ten men after half an hour. I don’t want to say it was a mistake, I was trying to go for the ball. You can call Araujo’s foul, and if you do, it’s a red card,” Ter Stegen said, according to Sport1.
Xavi, who himself was sent off with a red card, had previously called the decision against his defender a mistake: “The red card changed everything. It’s a shame that our Champions League season is over because of a referee’s error.”
El Clásico on Sunday
For the former Bundesliga goalkeeper Ter Stegen, the first goal conceded just before halftime was meanwhile the turning point in the match: “If we don’t concede at the 40th minute and go into halftime leading 1-0, maybe we have a chance.”
Dembélé, who had moved from Barcelona to Paris before the season, scored the crucial equalizer for Paris just before the break. The match ended 1-4. Ter Stegen said, “I am very disappointed because in the end, it was possible today. Disappointment is the right word.”
Yet the 31-year-old’s focus quickly shifted to upcoming tasks and the rest of the season: “It was possible to reach the semifinals. We need to maintain that. Everything continues, we will rest and prepare for the game this weekend, which is also important.”
