Germany coach Jürgen Klopp is heading into the upcoming international break with Marc-Andre ter Stegen as his number one. Is it the right decision?

Germany's final international break of the year will decide whether they reach the Nations League quarter-finals. They face Serbia on 13 November and the Netherlands on 16 November. Klopp is putting his faith in ter Stegen as his number one, as he made clear when announcing his squad last Thursday. But is that the right choice?

What happened to ter Stegen at FC Barcelona?

Ter Stegen's ordeal began in September 2024, when he tore his patellar tendon and missed almost the entire 2024/25 season at FC Barcelona. As soon as he recovered from that knee injury, his back problems resurfaced.

Things then got worse for the goalkeeper. The Catalans signed Joan Garcia from city rivals Espanyol Barcelona and moved on from their captain. The club's decision-makers, including coach Hansi Flick, effectively cast ter Stegen aside and dropped him from number one to third in the pecking order behind Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny.

Ter Stegen made just ten competitive appearances across the two seasons between 2024 and 2026: nine for FC Barcelona and one for FC Girona, where he went on loan in the winter. His injury problems followed him there. A thigh injury sidelined him for more than 160 days. After a long run of setbacks, things have finally begun to improve.

Ter Stegen thrives again in Amsterdam

After his disappointing spell at Girona, ter Stegen moved on loan again in August, this time to Ajax Amsterdam. The Dutch record champions had finished just fifth in the Eredivisie the previous season, but Ajax still offered a far bigger stage than Girona. He hoped the move would help him establish himself again at the highest level.

For the first few weeks, the 34-year-old looked rusty after so long without regular match practice. He drew criticism after an error in the Conference League and a poor display against PSV Eindhoven. As he played more, though, the Mönchengladbach native began to look more like his old self. The early doubts have given way to growing enthusiasm in the Netherlands.

"Like an ice hockey goalkeeper": Ter Stegen dazzles Dutch press and team-mates

That resurgence reached a new high a few weeks ago against Sparta Rotterdam. In arguably his best Ajax performance yet, ter Stegen inspired a 2-1 league win. He first made up for a dreadful misplaced pass by Julian Brandt with an outstanding one-on-one save against Mitchell van Bergen. Then he kept out several efforts on the line, preserving the narrow lead until the final whistle.

Former professional Hans Kraay praised him in his Voetbal International column: "Ajax had their backs to the wall for 45 minutes. Ter Stegen saved his team the three points with fantastic saves. The man is certainly no amateur! Goodness, he was brilliant!" Kraay singled out two moments: "The one-on-one save against Mitchell van Bergen, where he reacts almost like an ice hockey goalkeeper, is his speciality. No other goalkeeper in the Eredivisie would have saved Milan Zonneveld's header from just two metres away."

Van Bergen could not believe ter Stegen's reaction time either: "Normally, when you shoot, you can tell whether you've struck the ball well and whether it's going in. I knew straight away that my finish was good, but then that reaction came out of nowhere. It was pretty crazy."

With ter Stegen keeping four clean sheets in twelve league matches, Ajax have become much more settled in recent weeks. They now sit third in the Eredivisie, just one point behind leaders PSV.

On the ESPN programme 'Dit Was Het Weekend', former Ajax player Kenneth Perez described ter Stegen as a goalkeeper "who wins points for his team". He added that the German is "a completely different type of goalkeeper from almost all the other keepers in the Eredivisie" and "in a class of his own".

Team-mate Tolu Arokodare has also been impressed with the 34-year-old. Speaking to the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws, the striker offered an unusual assessment: "Ter Stegen drives me mad in training. Sometimes it's incredibly frustrating to see him save one shot after another. It makes you want to hit him."

"He goes into these games as number one": Klopp backs ter Stegen

Ter Stegen's Germany fortunes have improved too. At the 2024 home European Championship, he was Manuel Neuer's understudy, as he had been for much of his Germany career. An injury then kept him out of the World Cup in North America, so he missed the goalkeeping drama involving Oliver Baumann and Neuer's temporary return.

Once Neuer announced his second retirement from the national team, ter Stegen finally had his chance. He returned to the Germany side against the Netherlands in September after 15 months away, though he was still working his way back to full fitness and could not yet fully convince. Klopp now believes in him: "Ter Stegen goes into these games as number one," the 59-year-old explained.

Klopp pointed to more than the goalkeeper's Ajax performances: "Marc is having a great season in Amsterdam. It's not just about who is making better saves right now. With goalkeepers, it's about the great stability they have to project. How can I shape our play in possession? And when we defend with a high line, how do I recognise those situations early?"

Jonas Urbig offers a promising potential successor, while Alexander Nübel of Besiktas is another strong candidate. Klopp named both alongside ter Stegen for the international break. Schalke's Loris Karius is also in top form, but he was not selected.

Rather than change his goalkeeper, Klopp is relying on ter Stegen's experience and the work he has done to earn his place. He is also giving Urbig, still only 23 and nominally Neuer's backup at Bayern, more time to develop without the weight of expectation.

"Ter Stegen doesn't deserve it": Klopp's decision draws criticism

Not everyone agrees with Klopp. Sky pundit Dietmar Hamann was forthright: "I don't understand why ter Stegen deserves it. He was seriously injured. That was one of the reasons Neuer came back. It also has to be said that he hasn't performed well in goal for the national team." Hamann was unconvinced by the Ajax displays too: "I don't see it as something he has earned. He's certainly doing well in goal in Amsterdam, but Nübel is doing the same in Turkey. And there are arguments that Karius is the best goalkeeper in Germany."

Ter Stegen is now playing at an excellent level and is closer to the form of his most successful years at FC Barcelona than he has been in a long time. The next test is to reproduce it for Germany. Against Serbia and Greece, he has the chance to justify Klopp's faith and silence his critics.