FC Barcelona had one of the greatest seasons in the history of European football in 2014 2015, winning the Spanish La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Super Cup. Unsurprisingly, the awards and praise are only continuing for the soccer club's dynamic, dominant performance-the latest of which is the announcement that Marc-Andre ter Stegen wins UEFA Save of the Season Award.
Barca's Marc-Andre ter Stegen was nominated for the UEFA goalkeeper prize earlier this summer, alongside the likes of Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer, Manchester City's Joe Hart, Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon, and Chelsea's Thibaut Courtois-among others. Now, ter Stegen's nominated save-made in the second leg of the Champions League semifinals, against Bayern Munich-has been revealed as the top vote-getter for the award.
Along with being named to the 2014 2015 Champions League Team of the Season, this is the first major individual award that Marc-Andre ter Stegen has won in his career. It's a clear sign that the young goalkeeper (he's still just 23) has a bright future ahead of him in the soccer world.
The Save
The diving save that earned ter Stegen UEFA's top goalkeeper prize was both surprising as a standalone show of as athleticism, and pivotal in Barcelona's campaign to reach the 2014 2015 UCL finals. Coming into the second leg of the semifinals, Barca were looking like shoe-ins for a spot in the championship match. The Spanish champions had won the first leg in style, with Messi and Neymar putting on a show for audiences at their own Camp Nou. The game ended 3-0, and left Bayern Munich with a good deal of ground to make up in the second leg.
Things seemed to turn around for the Bavarians once they got in front of home audiences at Allianz Arena, with center back Medhi Benatia scoring the first goal of the match just seven minutes in. But two goals from Neymar in the next 22 minutes still put Bayern down 2-1 as the game surged toward the end of the first half.
Despite the close-ranged shot, Marc-Andre ter Stegen managed to get a hand on the ball, but not enough to clear the goal area. Instead, the ball hit the ground and began rolling toward the goal line, getting so close the both Robert Lewandowski and the fans in the stands at Allianz Arena began celebrating a goal. Those celebrations were premature, though, as ter Stegen made a diving maneuver to scoop the ball out of the goal, just before it crossed the line.
The save was remarkable, and it kept Barcelona in the lead heading into the second half. Ironically, Bayern Munich went on to win that match, sneaking two goals past ter Stegen the second half-one of them from Robert Lewandowski-to put the score a 3-2 at the end of full time. Still, ter Stegen's save helped keep the aggregate 5-3 in Barcelona's favor, and earned the Spanish football club advancement to the 2014 2015 Champions League final. (They won the championship match 3-1, against Juventus.)
The Runners-Up
Marc-Andre ter Stegen is a deserving winner of the 2014 2015 UEFA Save of the Season Award, but he's not the only person who deserved recognition. On the contrary, this year's pool of 10 finalists was particularly impressive, and the runner-up finishers (Manuel Neuer came in second in votes, while Gianluigi Buffon finished third) would have both been handsome victors.
Neuer's save came in a UCL group stage match between Bayern and AS Roma, and saw the Ballon d'Or finalist in fine form as he saved both a first shot and a rebound shot in quick succession. Buffon's save, meanwhile, occurred in the UCL championship match against Barcelona, when the 37-year-old showed off the agility of a much younger man as he swiftly changed direction to block a shot from Dani Alves.
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