Barcelona Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen looks to have claimed the Barca No.1 spot for himself after a superb display againstAthletic Bilbaoon Sunday evening.
The Germany international was handed a rare La Liga startat the San Mames, just his eighth in two years.
The opportunity comes after Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo completed aswitch to Pep Guardiola's Manchester City last week, leaving the first-choice keeper spot up for grabs at Barcelona.
Barca managerLuis Enrique did buy another goalkeeper to replace Bravolast week,signing Jasper Cillessen from Ajax in a€13m deal.
But it looks as though German keeper ter Stegen is ahead of the new signing in the pecking order, andunderstandablyso as the 24-year-old kept a clean sheet against Bilbao, also breaking a La Liga record for most completedpasses from a goalkeeper in a single game in the process.
50 - Marc-André Stegen has now completed 50 passes, more than any goalkeeper in a La Liga game (since 05/06). Future pic.twitter.com/C0ykGHsEoX
Ter Stegen completed a staggering 51 passes on Sunday night, breaking the record set in the 2005/06 season.
Considering the conditions on the night were far from ideal, with heavy rain and thunderstorms disrupting the flow of the play, it was a marvellous performance from the German, who played like he hadsomething to prove following Claudio Bravo's departure.
Ter Stegen ya ha completado 46 pases buenos, récord de un portero en #LaLiga desde 2005/2006. #AthleticBarça pic.twitter.com/S9PjCrr6na
Croatian midfielderIvan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game in the 22nd minute, maintaining Barcelona's 100 per cent start to the new season.
But it certainly wasn't a stroll in the park for Luis Enrique's side, who were under massive amounts of pressure from Bilbao for large periods in the encounter.
It was ter Stegen that managed to keep Barca's advantage, pulling off at least four terrific saves to prevent the home-side from scoring.