Ter Stegen's drama is a plagiarism

BarcelonaBoth scripts have enough similarities for Víctor Valdés to sue Marc-André ter Stegen for plagiarism. Grand glories, surly characters, chilling injuries at the most inopportune moments, and (possibly in the German's case) turbulent exits. Ter Stegen's film looks like one remake of Valdés, two dramas experienced between the posts that range from light to dark. The German and the Catalan are Barça's two best goalkeepers of the 21st century. Their careers at the club are worthy of a statue and a street in Les Corts. But Valdés left the Camp Nou crying inconsolably on a stretcher, and Ter Stegen will probably have to say goodbye to the fans with a cold message on Instagram.

It's no secret at this point that, despite being Barça's captain, Ter Stegen isn't the best teammate in the dressing room. Neither was Valdés, who didn't show up to train with the reserve team when Louis van Gaal considered he should return after promoting him to the first team. The Mönchengladbach native arrived by kicking Claudio Bravo out of Barça with the argument that he was the future, and he'll probably have to pack his bags because now he's the past and a boy named Joan Garcia, the future.

In these cases, the prejudice that goalkeepers are solitary and complex individuals is confirmed, beings who have grown up in the fierce jungle of goalkeeping, with the need to eliminate opponents in order to survive and occupy the only free spot for their species in a top-level team's starting lineup. Ter Stegen and Valdés have achieved this, but they have paid the price of struggling to accept that in the jungle, it is impossible to be the permanent king. Both should bear this in mind because, despite being undisputed Barça players for a decade each, they have found that for the bulk of their careers with their respective national teams, the coaches have preferred Neuer in one case and Casillas in the other.

Neither Ter Stegen nor Valdés are the best example of how to make friends and a dressing room in football, but no one can deny that they are essential pieces in Barça's recent successes. Although the German didn't have much luck in that either, winning the Champions League in his first season and then failing to lift it again. Not because of him. Now, it hurts to see the unfair campaign mounted to show him the way to the back exit door and that one of his possible destinations is a third-tier club like Galatasaray. Not so long ago, Barcelona fans fell at his feet when he rode a scooter through the Gràcia neighborhood after magical nights on the pitch.