Ter Stegen back in Barca squad for Copa final
Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been included in Barcelona's squad for this weekend's Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid, having made a swifter-than-anticipated recovery from a knee injury.
Ter Stegen has not played since September, having ruptured the patella tendon in his right knee during a 5-1 victory over Villarreal in LaLiga.
He subsequently underwent surgery, while Barca brought former Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny out of retirement to fill the void between the sticks.
Ter Stegen returned to training in February, and is a surprise inclusion in Barca's 22-man squad for the Copa del Rey final in Seville.
Ter Stegen joined Barca from Borussia Monchengladbach in 2014 and finally emerged as its first-choice league goalkeeper during the 2016-2017 campaign.
He has won LaLiga and the Copa del Rey on five occasions each, also starting when the Blaugrana beat Juventus in the 2015 UEFA Champions League final.
Since Ter Stegen joined Barca, he has played 420 games for the club and kept 174 clean sheets.
Jan Oblak (220) and Manuel Neuer (178) are the only goalkeepers from Europe's top five leagues to better that latter figure during that span (all competitions).
Ter Stegen has played seven games in all competitions this season, but Barca only kept a clean sheet in one of those matches.
While Szczesny has kept 13 clean sheets in 25 appearances this term and Inaki Pena managed five in 22 outings, neither goalkeeper can match Ter Stegen's save percentage of 69.57.
While Hansi Flick could bring Ter Stegen back against Barca's rival Madrid, the goalkeeper is not currently eligible to face Inter Milan in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-finals next week.
Szczesny was registered in Ter Stegen's place for the Blaugrana's European fixtures and UEFA regulations state that the Pole would have to be unregistered to allow Barca's number one to play in that competition.
