Immediately after the end of the game, Stefan Ortega was most happy. While most of the professionals at Manchester City Football Club accepted their entry into the round of 16 of the FA Cup against Arsenal as a matter of routine, Ortega, who switched from Arminia Bielefeld to City on a free transfer in the summer, threw up his arms. His reaction was understandable: The 1-0 (scored by defender Nathan Aké in the 64th minute of the game) should guarantee him at least one more season for Manchester City as a substitute goalkeeper, who is preferred to regular goalkeeper Ederson in the national cup competitions.
Before the match in England, the formation of the two coaches Pep Guardiola (City) and Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) was the decisive criterion for who would win. On the one hand, the league break this weekend offered the opportunity to rest professionals who had been under a lot of pressure recently. On the other hand, progress in the cup was at stake and the duel also allowed conclusions to be drawn about the balance of power in the Premier League. Arsenal are currently leading the table with one game less than City with five points. Unlike Arteta, who prescribed a creative break for a number of regular players, Guardiola nominated his supposedly strongest cast except for the goalkeeper position – although quite a few football experts on the island find that Ortega is as good as the Brazilian Ederson, maybe even better. And the German showed why this opinion is becoming increasingly popular on Friday night against Arsenal.
With first-class saves, Ortega saved his side from falling behind in the first half and secured the lead in the closing stages, responsively intercepting some promising through-balls from the opposition. the Manchester Evening News, the club’s house newspaper, rated the performance as “excellent”, with 8 out of 10 points, Ortega received the second best rating after goal scorer Aké – which is not so easy when the teammates are Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland or Ilkay Gündogan. In doing so, Ortega put his competitor Ederson under pressure and drew attention to himself in prime time in front of an audience of millions in the free-to-air game on television channel ITV, perhaps also for other top clubs.
After being relegated to the Bundesliga with Arminia Bielefeld in the previous season, Ortega decided after twelve years with Ostwestfalen – interrupted by three turbulent seasons at TSV 1860 Munich between 2014 and 2017 – to take on a new challenge. Manchester City had been watching him for years. At first, Ortega, who is not necessarily tall for a goalkeeper, 1.85 meters, was tempted by the prospect of playing in the Bundesliga with his youth club Arminia for the first time after promotion in 2020.
Instead, the role of reserve goalkeeper at City was filled by the American Zack Steffen. However, in the pre-season in the semi-final against Liverpool in the FA Cup, he made a hair-raising blunder when he carelessly tripped a ball on the goal line. He then went on loan to Middlesbrough, which gave the popular Ortega the unusual opportunity to move to Manchester – after more than 250 competitive games in Germany, most of them in the second division.
Ortega says he can’t get any worse “because of the level of training”.
In an interview with the SZ, Ortega, 30, says that the change has so far “worked out” for him as he “hoped for”. He had become “much more relaxed” and “no longer got upset about every goal conceded in training”. To what does he attribute this? The gap between his previous clubs and his current club is “so big” that he can assess his own situation “very well” through his experience, says Ortega. Even if he is no longer used regularly (having previously only missed one competitive game in three seasons), he “can’t get any worse” because of the high level of training. Initially, his goal was to justify the trust and to show that he was not just a goalkeeper “from a relegated team”.
Coped with every situation Arsenal FC put him in front of: City goalkeeper Stefan Ortega beats Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli here.
(Photo: David Blunsden/Action Plus / Imago)
In the first half of the year, Ortega made seven competitive appearances for Manchester, two of them in the Champions League, when the club’s progression was already certain. Only when he was out in the League Cup against Southampton did he not look good when he conceded a goal, he was far in front of his goal. But in particular his handling of the ball at his feet is second to none. Probably only compatriot Marc-André ter Stegen has a comparably mature passing game in world football. The goalkeeper reminds Ortega of a golfer who can hit the ball precisely anywhere on the course. And in a variety of ways: flat, high, fast, slow, with the inside, the full instep, with curl and backspin.
Against Arsenal, who defended by man marking, it was his job to always put the player in the limelight who had the supposed best chance of winning the duel. It was mostly center forward Haaland and playmaker De Bruyne.
Ortega’s rare skills are beginning to catch the eye, not only from his coach Guardiola, who praised him as a “great transfer”. But also, for example, Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, who recently wrote on Twitter: “Ortega, absolutely incredible”. After his good start, the question arises as to what will happen next for Ortega at Manchester City. His contract runs until June 2025.
Of course, he “always calculates something,” says Ortega. Basically, he thinks it would be “nice” if “Premier League appearances” were added in the near future. He is aware that this can take time, but it can also happen quickly. And hardly anyone could judge that better than Stefan Ortega himself – whose skills remained largely unknown for many years and then suddenly led him to one of the world’s best clubs.