Oblak’s revenge

With tears in the eyes, Diego Simeone He stared at the fans Atlético de Madrid who celebrated in the stands of Metropolitan Stadium. Minutes earlier, the coach had been walking back and forth along the sideline, not witnessing the tense penalty shootout that ended in the team’s victory. Athletic about him Inter Milan and advancing to the quarterfinals of Champions League.

But there is one factor that will be key for the colchonero team to eliminate one of the best clubs today in Europe: Jan Oblak. The goalkeeper has full confidence in himself. “I don’t doubt myself,” he said a few weeks ago. And it doesn’t matter that the current period is not the brightest for the Slovenian. He is one of the best, if not the best. Like that.

If you have a bud Achilles, a ‘black legend’ behind him, that’s what penalty shoot-outs are all about. The one in Milan was heavy on him, the other in the last match Real Madrid, where he didn’t even come close to stopping any of the launches.

But the truth is yes, he is a great penalty saver. Until the clash against the Italian team, Oblak He saved 15 penalties and conceded 49 in all competitions. That, without counting those who failed their current rivals. A decent 30.61. That means he stops three out of every ten that are thrown at him. Or one of three, if you prefer.

He is new Inter, Oblak stopped two shots – the ones that were thrown Alexis and Klaassen– and he paired the two, the throwers Cahlanoglu and Acerbi. While Lautaro Martinez he sent his shot. That means, the red-and-white goalkeeper raised his save percentage to 31.48%.

“In the end, it was a bit of luck with the penalties,” he said. Oblak. “Because you have to choose the right side and you have to stop. If the player takes the shot perfectly, it’s impossible to stop it. I was very happy that I was able to save. The important thing is the victory and we reached the quarterfinals.” Memphis Depay Rodrigo Riquelme and Angel Correa they changed their punishments for Athleticand the goalkeeper Inter, Yann Sommerthe shooting stopped Saúl Ñíguez.

THE HAPPINESS OF COMPANIONS

The goalkeeper has full confidence in himself and his teammates. In the last moments, the Slovenian, while his teammates were talking, went to the bench where he was given instructions about rival pitchers. Then, chat to give him confidence from Pablo Vercellone, goalkeeper coach. He drank some water, gave instructions to Koke about what he wanted on the draw, which was to shoot it at the south end (Vallecano lost it and Lautaro chose to throw it at the end where the Inter fans). And then, reinildo, Memphis, Azpi, Witsel, Nice… everyone cheers on the Slovenian, who is convinced it’s his night.

“This is It him Athletic. Maybe you’re used to that. In the end there is no such thing as a calm game and you have to fight to the end. I was nervous about the penalty. The last round is the World Cup final (with France and there was a loss against Argentina) and we lost; There is a lot of confidence in the players to shoot and we have an incredible goalkeeper, who also finally won a penalty shootout,” he commented after the crash. Griezmann.

“I thought about the Leverkusen game (also with penalties), I saw the first two, I didn’t see the second one and Jan saved it. And if they show it to you, follow it (superstitiously). It’s fun to me Januaryis with us in Athletic and he wants to be with us, he is one of the best Europe. He saved us in the first two games, with two tough shots. He deserved what happened to him, just like what happened to his fight Leverkusen“, he explained Simeon.