Barcelona’s prospects in the 2023/24 campaign took a turn for the worse following back-to-back defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid.
The club are now staring at the prospect of a trophyless campaign. However, a few of the Barcelona individuals are still in line to win accolades as we near the end of the campaign.
Ter Stegen favourite to win Zamora trophy
One of them is Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has emerged as the undisputed favourite to secure the Zamora trophy.
The Zamora trophy is the most prestigious award for goalkeepers in La Liga. It is given to the goalkeeper with the best goals-to-game ratio in the league.
A key parameter for this trophy, however, is that a goalkeeper must feature in at least 28 league matches.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen won this prestigious trophy last season after conceding only 18 goals in 38 matches.
But following a back injury earlier in the season, very few expected the German to remain in contention for the Zamora trophy this time around.
However, with less than a month remaining before the season comes to an end, ter Stegen has emerged as a favourite to win the award, having conceded just 20 goals in 22 matches.
This puts him ahead of other goalkeepers in the league, when it comes to goals per game ratio, with ter Stegen conceding only 0.90 per game. This is marginally better than second-placed Unai Simon’s tally of 0.97.
It must be noted that Real Madrid duo Kepa Arrizabalaga and Andriy Lunin have the best goals-per-game ratio in La Liga this season, but neither of them is eligible for the Zamora trophy as they cannot possibly feature in 28 matches when the season ends.
This has put ter Stegen in the driver’s seat, as far as the race for the Zamora trophy is concerned. The German, though, must ensure he does not concede too many goals in the remaining six league matches.
