Luis Enrique on Ter Stegen's fitness, Umtiti & not resting Busquets
Luis Enrique hinted that Marc-Andre ter Stegen could make an early return to action when Barcelona welcome Celtic in their first game in this season’s Champions League on Tuesday.
The German goalkeeper missed the weekend defeat to Alaves, with Jasper Cillessen taking his place, but came through training unscathed on Monday.
“Ter Stegen trained fully we will see tomorrow morning who is in the squad,” Luis Enrique confirmed. “But he did the whole session which is positive.”
As well as the fitness of his squad, including Lionel Messi, the Barça boss also spoke about a range of other subjects ahead of the game against the Scottish champions.
Talk after Alaves game: We talk after every game, to correct things to reinforce other things - what happens in those meetings is only important for the players and staff. I was quite clear after the game [against Alaves] we talk, we talk with the players to try and put them on the right track to win the game, but it is not an exact science.
Samuel Umtiti: When you sign players you have to evaluate their quality, then you can see their performances at a club with the difficulties and demands of Barca. We think all the new signings have quality, but you evaluate that over half or a full season.
Resting Busquets: The player that is going to rest least is Busquets for his speciality in that position, but I expect to use a lot of players this season.
Jasper Cillessen: “Cillessen is doing well, that is why we signed him. He didn't have much luck in the goals because they were two good moves by Alaves. He is doing well in what we look for form a Barca goalkeeper.”
Friendly vs. Celtic: It helps to have played Celtic in pre-season, but there are also some doubts, in terms of intensity and fighting for the three points there is a huge difference [to pre-season]. They have a new coach and the idea he is trying to implement is to play with the ball, they came through qualifiers and now we have to face them in the group again.
