Barcelona's Marc-Andre ter Stegen breaks La Liga passing record
Tuesday 30 August 2016 15:09, UK
Barcelona's outfield players have long been renowned for their immaculate distribution skills, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen proved just how good their goalkeepers are with the ball at their feet.
The highly regarded Germany international, who is now Barcelona's No 1 following the recent departure of Claudio Bravo to Manchester City, broke a 10-year La Liga record against Athletic Bilbao, on Sunday.
With Bravo having previously been Luis Enrique's first choice in La Liga, Ter Stegen was making only his eighth top-flight appearance in the past two years for the club, not that it showed in difficult conditions at the San Mames.
Ter Stegen, 24, attempted an astonishing 62 passes as the La Liga champions maintained their 100 per cent start to the new season with a 1-0 win over Athletic in San Sebastian.
Of those 62 passes, the Barcelona 'keeper completed 51 of them - beating another La Liga record stretching back to the 2005/06 campaign - at an impressive accuracy rate of 82.3 per cent.
In stark comparison, the most amount of passes any goalkeeper has attempted in the Premier League so far this season is 43 by Burnley's Tom Heaton and Hull City's Eldin Jakupovic.
Meanwhile, the highest number of successful passes by a top-flight 'keeper this campaign was the 27 by Simon Mignolet in Liverpool's 2-0 defeat at Burnley, 24 fewer than Ter Stegen pulled off on Sunday.
However, despite almost costing his side a goal with one stray pass straight to the feet of Athletic midfielder Benat, Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague says the German will continue to be encouraged to play this way.
"Marc-Andre Ter Stegen made the fourth most passes on the pitch, which is outstanding for a goalkeeper," wrote Balague in his weekly column.
"He made one big mistake, which could have cost Barcelona. But even though a lot of people say goalkeepers should not use their feet so much, Ter Stegen gives more to the side than he takes away and he will continue to do so.
"He has to improve, of course, and aim for 100 per cent success rate, but it is how Barcelona have decided to play."
