Ter Stegen goes from boos to applause at the Gamper Stadium: "It's time to look forward."

Marc-André ter Stegen underwent his first real test in front of the fans in the run-up to the Joan Gamper Tournament at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, against Cesc Fábregas ' Como. The German goalkeeper, who had his captaincy stripped by the club a few days ago and then regained it late on Friday after agreeing to sign a consent form for the LaLiga Medical Commission to assess his outage, heard some boos as soon as he came onto the pitch, but was eventually applauded every time he paused during a speech in which he did not shy away from his conflict with the club.

"Thank you very much for coming to the Johan. We all share the excitement of returning to the Spotify Camp Nou, our home, where we want to play many matches. There's not much left. For me, personally, it was important to resolve the issue between the club and me. Now it's time to look forward. We're all very excited for this season to start; we have a very demanding season ahead of us, and there's not much left. We've worked very hard, and we're starting with Como, with familiar faces and friends who were at Barça," said the goalkeeper at the beginning of his speech.

"We have new faces, one quite familiar one, with Tek [for Szczesny ], and I want to give them my support in whatever they may face. With these signings, we're going to be better, stronger, and I'm sure they'll fit in very well with this dressing room. We must keep working; there are areas to improve, as always, and we're going to fight again for every trophy, and with your help, we hope to win every title possible," said Ter Stegen, who wished to remember his teammates who have already left the club this summer. The goalkeeper also had words of praise for Hansi Flick , who apparently wasn't entirely happy with the attitude his compatriot displayed in the final stretch of last season.

Flick's speech

"Thanks to Hansi and his staff for their great work. As fans, we enjoyed it immensely, as did I, who unfortunately was in that position for a long time, with exciting football. We have a squad with a lot of character, with a lot of energy on and off the pitch, and we hope for success," said the German, who ended his speech with a full declaration of support for the club, and in Catalan. "I love you, culers, long live Barça and long live Catalonia," he concluded.

Flick, for his part, began his brief speech with a quick phrase in Catalan and ended by addressing the approximately 6,000 fans who had traveled to the Johan Cruyff Stadium, the Gamper Stadium's emergency venue due to the impossibility of playing at the Camp Nou. Some of them paid up to 500 euros for VIP seats.

"Good night, culers. Thank you very much for your support last year. We had some wonderful times together. It was a special year, and we want to continue this wonderful story. In the new season, we will work hard and without excuses. We want to win many matches and many titles. Once again, thank you very much, long live Barça and long live Catalunya," said the German coach, whose words were greeted with applause throughout. Barcelona then went on to beat Como 5-0 with two goals from Fermín , one from Raphinha , and two more from Lamile Yamal .