Girona will have to make do with Ter Stegen, who is injured until spring.

Girona/BarcelonaMarc-André ter Stegen suffered a serious muscle injury in the league match of Girona on Saturday at Oviedo's ground. Pending further tests and a clearer diagnosis agreed upon by Girona and Barcelona, ​​initial examinations suggest the German goalkeeper could be sidelined for two months, and may even require further surgery. Girona has already issued a statement saying that "Marc-André ter Stegen has a left hamstring injury. The player will undergo further medical tests to finalize the diagnosis and establish a prognosis."

Whatever the final medical report, Ter Stegen will finish the season at Montilivi, even though Girona initially explored ways to terminate the loan, as the player will miss a significant amount of competition and won't return until well into spring. That idea was discarded yesterday. The goalkeeper will, however, complete part of his recovery in Barcelona and, in principle, won't be available for Míchel Sánchez until at least the beginning of April. The Vallecas-born coach, the main proponent of this move, has had his plans disrupted. This setback affects Ter Stegen's participation in the upcoming World Cup with the German national team. Without a starting position at Barça after the signing of Joan Garcia, the Mönchengladbach native agreed to a loan to Girona to get playing time before such an important tournament. Unfortunately, however, he will have to stop after playing just two official matches for the red and white team. Despite having time yesterday to scour the winter transfer market for a new goalkeeper, as Paulo Gazzaniga will remain the only viable and proven option between the posts after Dominik Livaković's departure to Dinamo Zagreb, there were ultimately no hasty moves and the squad will remain as it is. The red-and-white club also has the young Ukrainian Vladyslav Krapyvtsov, who has even played a few league matches, but he doesn't represent real competition for the Argentinian, who was suddenly relegated to the bench, causing considerable frustration. Girona will be fighting for survival, aiming to avoid being in dire straits at the end of the season. The other goalkeepers in contention are the Bulgarian Andreev, from the reserve team, who hasn't played a single minute, and Juan Carlos, who is seriously injured. With the winter transfer window now closed, the only option is to urgently sign free agents, provided the affected club has available roster spots.

Gazzaniga starts again

In Ter Stegen's case at Girona, it's been a case of arriving and making a splash, but his presence in the starting eleven hasn't been synonymous with victories. He was the starter from day one, displacing Gazzaniga, a regular since 2022. Míchel emphasized that for him it was "a very difficult decision," but said: "Ter Stegen makes us better and we need the best players." The German, avoiding any controversy with his new teammate between the posts, said at his presentation: "I have the utmost respect, but my goal is to play." At the time of the change, Gazzaniga was making a strong case for continuing to play: he was relegated to the bench after three consecutive wins and two clean sheets. With Ter Stegen, however, Girona's positive run has been cut short, and the team has dropped five points in a week: the draw against Getafe and the defeat in Oviedo represent a small step backward.

Gazzaniga knew he'd be back in action in two weeks, because Barça had included a "fear clause" in his contract with Ter Stegen for the February 16th visit to Montilivi. What he didn't expect was that his return as Girona's starting goalkeeper would come sooner, and even less so that it would be for a similar reason. The only warning the German had given regarding his condition was in Saudi Arabia, when he flew urgently to Barcelona due to thrombosis, but that turned out to be just a scare. Unfortunately, now it's serious, with all eyes on the left hamstring that the German has injured and that almost forced him to return to Barcelona.