Marc-Andre ter Stegen's chances of joining Barcelona's match against Porto in the Champions League on Tuesday have diminished.
Stegen suffered a back injury while he was training for the German national team, so he returned to Barcelona without playing the two friendly matches.
Initial reports were reassuring that the German would not be sidelined for long, but he failed to catch the match against Rayo Vallecano.
According to the newspaper “Sport”, Stegen continued to be absent from Barcelona’s training on Monday, and consequently, he was close to missing the match against Porto.
On this basis, goalkeeper Iñaki Peña will continue to protect the Catalan club for the second match in a row, making it his first ever appearance with Barca in the Champions League.
The loss of Stegen represents a major blow to Xavi Hernandez's squad in the decisive match against Porto, given his great experience and quality, which has always played a decisive role in such confrontations.
Barcelona shares the lead in the group with Porto with 9 points each, and Shakhtar comes third with 6 points. The loss to the Portuguese club, along with the Ukrainian club’s victory over Royal Antwerp, means Barcelona enters the final round in third place.
Barcelona is missing the services of Sergi Roberto and Javi to injury, alongside Stegen, and Xavi’s squad is facing a lot of pressure after the decline in results and levels in the last month.
It is noteworthy that Barcelona tied with Rayo Vallecano 1-1, dropping to fourth place in the Spanish League standings.
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