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In the 36th minute, the 44-cap international failed to gather a ball flashed across goal. He spilled it straight to Sion's Winsley Boteli, who had no trouble tapping into the empty net to make it 2-1 to the Swiss top club on the night. Sion had briefly cut the deficit to one goal after Ajax won the first leg 4-2.
But ter Stegen's blunder made little difference in the second leg. Ajax quickly moved through the gears and won the return 5-3 as well. That sent the Dutch traditional club through 9-5 on aggregate. Julian Brandt, who had already scored in the first leg, went off after 60 minutes and failed to get on the scoresheet in the return leg.
Ter Stegen blunders and faces criticism: "Did not look very assured"
Even so, ter Stegen could not avoid criticism. "Ter Stegen did not look very assured," was the verdict of Voetbal International after the match.
Barcelona had cast aside the 34-year-old and he had also been plagued by a serious injury crisis, so the Catalans loaned him to Ajax for one season. At the Dutch traditional club, ter Stegen is the number one between the posts.
In the previous campaign, the goalkeeper had already been loaned to Girona for half a season. Because of injury, though, he made only two competitive appearances there. Ter Stegen's contract with Barcelona runs until 2028.