Few goalkeepers have fallen as far and climbed back as quickly as Marc-André ter Stegen. Barely a year on from losing his place at Barcelona and watching the World Cup from the treatment room, he is Jürgen Klopp’s number one for Germany.
Klopp named him as his undisputed first choice ahead of the UEFA Nations League meetings with Serbia and the Netherlands, as reported by Bulinews after the Germany manager’s pre-camp press conference. Klopp had rotated through Jonas Urbig and Alexander Nübel across his first matches in charge. Now, he says, the hierarchy is settled.
“Marc has the most experience in this area, and, yes, we’re going into these matches with him as our number one,” Klopp told reporters, according to Bulinews.
The Germany manager added that ter Stegen’s two understudies were in strong form at club level, and credited his number one’s start to life in Amsterdam.
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From injury blow to Ajax restart
The road back has been uneven. Displaced at Barcelona by new first choice Joan García, ter Stegen missed much of the 2025-26 season through injury and watched Manuel Neuer play on as Germany’s number one through the summer. Neuer retired from international football after the tournament, leaving the gloves vacant on Klopp’s arrival.
Ajax moved for ter Stegen in the summer window. The season-long loan was announced on 3 July, with Barcelona agreeing to cover the majority of his wages through to June 2027. Technical director Jordi Cruijff told NL Times the two parties had worked on the move for some time and described ter Stegen as an immediate addition to the squad.
Ter Stegen started on his Eredivisie debut, keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 win over PEC Zwolle at the MAC³PARK Stadion to open Ajax’s 2026-27 campaign.
Serbia away, Netherlands at home
Germany travel to the Stadion Rajko Mitić in Belgrade on Friday 13 November to face Serbia in UEFA Nations League Group A2, before returning to Berlin’s Olympiastadion to host the Netherlands on Monday 16 November.
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