Ter Stegen v Neuer: Barça v Bayern a proxy war for Germany's No 1 rivals

13-Aug-2020 12:10:09 | The Guardian

German goalkeepers at opposite ends of the pitch when Bayern take on Barcelona are locked in an increasingly tense rivalry

“Germany is fortunate to have this pair of goalkeepers, although Neuer is truly world-class and Ter Stegen is still on his way to that level.” The flickering rivalry between Manuel Neuer and Marc-André ter Stegen didn’t really need stoking before the pair meet in Friday’s Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge thought he might as well give it a poke anyway.

Neuer’s Bayern teammate Leon Goretzka took a more reasonable stance, but at the same time trod a very thin line when tactfully describing the pair as “the best two goalkeepers in the world”. Choosing your corner is important. Portugal players, for example, have rarely dared veer from the “Cristiano is the greatest” party line over the years. If we’re not quite at the level of delicacy yet, it’s not far off.