Ter Stegen, a life of genius and rebellion: before challenging Barça, he rivaled Messi, Neuer, and Claudio Bravo.

Víctor Valdés used to say that the key to a goalkeeper's success at Barcelona, more than footwork, is one-on-one play. Marc-André ter Stegen , over the last few years, has demonstrated a fantastic touch when moving the ball. He has also demonstrated a more than reliable performance in duels. Always relentless, he knows what to do to frustrate his opponent. And, for better or worse, he has carried that attitude off the pitch as well.

In his latest major clash, this time with the Catalan club itself, he refuses to sign a consent form requiring the club to submit his medical reports to the LaLiga Medical Committee, with the aim of determining his length of injury. If it's four months or more, they can use part of his salary to register signings. Especially Joan García, who is now destined to be the undisputed starter between the sticks.

But the German isn't throwing in the towel. He already made it clear by stating that his absence would be for three months, the same day he announced he would undergo surgery to address new problems with his lower back. And now he's taken things a step further by exercising an inalienable right to privacy, one that no footballer, until now, had considered invoking in the event of injury.

That it's all part of the tug-of-war with the Barcelona club is more than evident. It's also evident that Ter Stegen isn't shy about his arguments. During his time as a youth player with his national team, he competed fiercely with Bernd Leno , the current Fulham goalkeeper. Ter Stegen became a starter in the lower categories of the Mannschaft , during a period in which they almost came to blows because, at training camps, the Barça player wanted to sleep while Leno preferred to talk on the phone. The solution? Separate rooms.

Facing Claudio Bravo

Just as he was about to begin his third season as a Barça player, another duel arose, this time perhaps more or less expected, with another teammate between the sticks. This time, it was Claudio Bravo . During Luis Enrique's first two years in charge, the Chilean was a regular starter in La Liga, and he had to settle for the Champions League and Copa del Rey. That's why he issued a serious ultimatum: it was him or me. He had the advantage: Pep Guardiola 's Manchester City were willing to do anything to sign him. Once again, he won the battle, and in the end, it was Bravo who ended up joining the City side.

They say there's no two without three. Following that maxim, it's not unusual to find a third clash with another goalkeeper. One that, however, didn't end up having the expected outcome. For a long time, the German national team's goal was defended by a virtually immovable Manuel Neuer , despite Ter Stegen's strong performances with Barça.

With Neuer's announcement of his retirement from the national team, the door to a starting position has finally opened for him, although the Bayern goalkeeper has recently made a gesture that suggests he still has it in for the Barcelona goalkeeper: offering to play for the German national team again, something that current manager Julian Nagelsmann has already completely ruled out.

Ter Stegen's strong character knows no bounds. That's why he even experienced several tense moments with Leo Messi at Barça. He himself confessed this in a podcast for the newspaper Bild. And the Argentine, he explained, isn't one to mess around. "He's probably the only player who can throw a ball in your face if he wants to. He has that ability. Others would shoot elsewhere; he could hit the target. He's done it several times," he revealed.