Barcelona captain Ter Stegen to return from injury versus Valladolid

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen will return to action against Real Valladolid in LaLiga on Saturday, having been absent for seven months after undergoing knee surgery.

The 33-year-old suffered a complete tear of a tendon below his right kneecap in September and had surgery shortly afterwards.

In his absence, Barca turned to Polish shot-stopper Wojciech Szczesny, who came out of retirement in October to sign as a free agent.

The captain’s availability is a major boost for Barcelona, who lead LaLiga with 76 points, four clear of champions Real Madrid with five games remaining, including a Clasico at home.

“He is well, Marc will be back tomorrow,” head coach Hansi Flick told reporters on Friday with a big smile.

“It will also be good for Szczesny to rest too. Marc is training very well, and can play at this level.

Asked if Ter Stegen will be in goal for the remaining games of the campaign, Flick said: “I’m not thinking about changing anything until the end of the season. But it can change, after Valladolid, we will see what happens.”

Since Ter Stegen joined Barca, he has played 420 games for the club and kept 174 clean sheets.

Jan Oblak (221) and Manuel Neuer (178) are the only goalkeepers from Europe’s top five leagues to better that latter figure during that span (all competitions).

Barca have fewer than 72 hours to recover before Saturday’s match, following their thrilling 3-3 Champions League semi-final first-leg draw with Inter on Wednesday.

Bottom club Valladolid saw their relegation from LaLiga confirmed last week, while Barca hammered them 7-0 in the reverse fixture in August.

Saturday’s hosts have just four wins this season and the league’s worst defensive record, conceding 81 goals in 33 games.

“The attitude should be the same level as Wednesday against Inter Milan,” Flick said.

“It doesn’t matter where Valladolid are playing next season, they are right now playing in LaLiga and we respect them. Also, you can lose the title from these matches.

“In the first part of the season, losses against Leganes and Las Palmas [held us back]. We suffered, so the team know how important this match is.”