Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez ended the controversy surrounding Marc-Andre ter Stegen's injury, and confirmed that the German will not guard the Catalan club's goal in the next match against Rayo Vallecano, but will return against Porto.
Stegen suffered a back injury during his participation with the German national team during the last international break, as a result of which he returned to Barcelona without participating in the friendlies of Turkey and Austria.
When Xavi was asked about Stegen in the press conference for the Rayo Vallecano match on Friday, he responded by saying, “Stegen is out of tomorrow’s match, Iñaki Peña is the one who will participate.”
At the same time, Xavi ridiculed the rumors that Ilkay Gundogan would move to the Saudi League next winter, saying, “Did Saudi media say he wants to go there? Thank you (in Arabic).”
As for Gavi’s injury, Xavi defended Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, saying, “We have a good relationship with De La Fuente. Gavi’s injury is not his fault, it is because of the match schedule.”
He continued, "Gavi's absence is a big loss. We can't really find a replacement for him. We are talking to Deco about that, but there is no new news."
“I told Gavi that I had the same injury and it made me a better player because I started paying attention to every detail and being more professional. Our full concern now is for Javi to recover well and fully.”
He continued, answering questions about the quarrel between Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski in the Alaves match before the international break, “It is normal for such things to happen. I was a player and things like this happened to me as well, and they happened to Messi, Puyol, Valdez and Pedro.”
He concluded, "The truth is that Lewandowski helped Lamine mature as a player. Lewandowski is a leader in the locker room, and he also makes the difference, as he did in the last match. The team needs him and he needs him."
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