Barcelona's ter Stegen supporting former club Gladbach as Bundesliga resumes
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has publicly shown his support for former club Borussia Monchengladbach, ahead of the Bundesliga resuming play today.
All eyes worldwide are fixated on Germany's top two divisions, after their proposal to finish the 2019-20 campaign was approved by the country's government and health officials.
The 28-year-old tweeted earlier today, saying: "Always with BMG!! ⚫️⚪️🟢"
Gladbach face a trip to face strugglers Eintracht Frankfurt in today's featured evening kick-off from 5.30 pm (GMT), knowing that a victory could see them tighten their grip on the Champions League places ahead of Bayer Leverkusen's match against Bremen on Monday.
Ter Stegen, who originally joined Gladbach's youth academy aged at four-years-old, spent four years in their first-team ranks and made 108 Bundesliga appearances.
Their inability to challenge closer towards the top of German's top-flight was perhaps a reason why the Barcelona move was such an enticing proposition at that stage of ter Stegen's career.
They only qualified for the Champions League once during his four-year spell in the first-team, where they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv during the qualification rounds in 2012.
At the time of his transfer, the German international was quoted as saying:
"It is a great honour for me and a big challenge. This is one of the best clubs in the world and a chance like this doesn't come your way every day. Victor Valdes is a great keeper who has done so much for the club, won so many titles, but I am who I am and that's that."
Valdes, a Barcelona legend in his own right with over 500 total appearances, left the club on a free transfer the same summer as ter Stegen's arrival in Catalonia.
This just solidified Barca's belief that he would prove himself as their worthy long-term number one goalkeeper, which is a role he's embraced with open arms.
Barcelona's deal for the German proved a masterstroke
His consistent displays, both in Germany and European competition over time, saw his stock rise and pique Barcelona's interest before they agreed a shrewd deal for £10m in 2014.
That transfer fee has proved a masterstroke for the La Liga leaders, allowing him to quickly establish himself as first-choice 'keeper in Spain and assert himself as one of the world's best goalkeepers since.
ter Stegen made 34 appearances and kept 11 clean sheets across all competitions for Barcelona this term, before the sport's suspension in March.
Widely regarded as their most important player besides captain Lionel Messi, he'll be hoping that Javier Tebas' proposal for a June 12 restart is approved.
Barcelona currently hold a two-point gap over La Liga rivals Real Madrid, while their hopes of achieving Champions League success - their first since 2014-15 - was put on hold.
They are set to face Serie A side Napoli in their second leg last-16 clash, having drawn the first leg 1-1 in Italy before the shutdown.