Hansi Flick has revealed he has given goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen “clear orders” to ensure there is not a repeat of his costly error in Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat to Monaco.
A misplaced pass ultimately led to Eric Garcia’s early red card in Barcelona’s Champions League opener – an incident which Flick admitted completely changed the game.
Ter Stegen’s performance has attracted intense scrutiny on social media and, while Flick was happy to offer his support to the German, he acknowledged such mistakes cannot be repeated.
“Playing with his feet is one of Ter Stegen’s strengths, beyond just shot-stopping,” Flick said. “He can take it with his feet, and that’s part of our style. It begins with Ter Stegen at the back.
“Errors are human. We have to learn, and we’ve analysed it. I hope I’ve given him clear orders so it doesn’t happen again. And I hope it won’t.”
Ter Stegen admitted his role in Garcia’s dismissal, confessing he felt sorry for his teammate after the game.
“I feel bad for him,” the Barcelona stopper said. “We played 80 minutes without one player. That shouldn’t happen, but that’s football. It hurts to lose, we gave our best, we wanted to get at least a point. In the end, we conceded a goal, which we didn’t deserve at the time.”
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