Barcelona boss Flick jumps to defence of under-fire Blaugrana star after Monaco loss | OneFootball

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has on Saturday launched a stern defence of a leading member of his squad.

The player in question? Marc-André ter Stegen.

The name of goalkeeper Ter Stegen has of course taken its place front and centre in the headlines across all of Spain over the last 48 hours.

This comes owing to the German’s performance in Barcelona’s Champions League season opener against AS Monaco.

En route to an eventual 2-1 defeat, Ter Stegen endured an evening to forget, first playing a direct hand in Eric García being sent for an early bath, before also failing to cover himself him glory for what proved to be the game’s decisive goal during the 2nd-half.

The 32-year-old has, in turn, since been bombarded with criticism and insults, on the part of those of a Barcelona persuasion, and beyond.

Speaking in his pre-Villarreal press conference this afternoon, it therefore came as little surprise when the name of his no.1 was put to the aforementioned Hansi Flick.

And, in his response, the German tactician was quick to back Ter Stegen, explaining:

“I think one of Marc’s biggest strengths is when he has the ball, and that’s our style of play as well. Maybe he made a mistake in the Monaco game, but everyone makes mistakes, we are human.”

Conor Laird – GSFN