Goalkeeper Jan Oblak managed to leave Atletico Madrid’s goal untouched twice in the past week and led the team to a prestigious victory against Bayern in the Champions League, which was followed by success in Valencia, from whom Madrid took over the primacy in La Liga, thanks to their opponents’ missteps.
Oblak’s dependability and his superb defenses which serve as the apotheosis of the proverbially granite defense of Diego Simeone’s team, are resounding across Europe. In nine games this season – seven in the Premier League and two in the Champions League – he received only two goals and with the help of 23 saves (with a 92-perecent save rate), he remained undefeated in seven matches.
A Record of Saves
With five saves in Valencia, Oblak reached the 50th untouched goal mark. In 81 games in Atletico Madrid colors the Škofja Loka native remained undefeated 26 times in the Spanish championships, 12 times in the Championship League and twice in the Copa del Rey. In 31 remaining games, Oblak received 46 goals. The 23-year-old is therefore just continuing where he left off last year as the winner of the Zamora Prize and the tying of the Spanish goalkeeping record.
He wasn’t himself in Vilnius a month ago after an illness
But now Oblak is joining Slovenia’s national team, where he had his least impressive performance in the new season. A month ago, re received two goals in Vilnius, partly because of his error, after a week’s bout with a fever and illness. Of course, it is difficult to compare the defenses of Atletico with those of Slovenia but the rainy match against Lithuania (2:2) on Astroturf, where he was forced to put on sweatpants, will not be among the highlights of Oblak’s career.
Oblak only has nine games for Slovenia behind him; he has remained undefeated for times – three times in friendlies in the Euro 2016 qualifiers in San Marino. In World Cup qualifiers four years ago in Norway and now in Lithuania, he received a total of four goals.
Cesar is no longer Chievo’s obvious choice
Worryingly, Capitian Boštjan Cesar lost his standard position on Chievo’s first tine, and is now alternating between playing and warming the bench. He has allowed himself a number of errors his year. So far, Katanec has bet on the central duo of Cesar-Samardžić. but Miha Mevlja has appeared like a comet on Europe’s largest stage. After establishing himself in Romania with Dynamo Bucharest, he moved to Rostov at the concussion of the transfer period, and he now plays in the Champions League. Last week, he was among the best players both when his team managed to take home a point against PSV (2:2) and Sunday’s sweet victory against the champion, CSKA (2:0).
Kampl still shooting blanks
In the center, the main responsibility has been given to Kevin Kampl, who has almost absolute freedom at Leverkusen. Here, he must go after his opponents and force them to make errors. Lately, he has nominally established himself in the midfield, but he can also be found in wing and in full-back positions. He is lest frequently in the forward position, where most of his efforts consist of distance kicks, which he still executes without precision this year. The came closer to success in this Saturday’s derby against Borussia Dortmund (2:0).
Birsa the first “conductor” of fifth-ranked Chievo
The most pleasant surprise of Serie A is the fifth-ranked Chievo, where the “conductor’s baton” is in the hands of Valter Birsa. He drove home the fact on Saturday with a perfect raised pass for a decisive goals of the Donkeys. Birsa’s passes from corners and free kicks are also dangerous; he managed to organize no fewer than seven assists in the game against Pescara. However, his performance still fluctuates from game to day, but after seven rounds, he already has two goals and three assists.
The unimpressive Iličić was no threat to Hart
There is less good news about the current team from the offensive part of the ream. After a series of games in which he stood out, Josip Iličić had a difficult time scoring the season’s first goal. Playing with Torino on Sunday, when he faced off with the English goalkeeper Joe Hart, he played what was probably his worst game in the 2016 calendar year. As a result, he ended up in the locker room during halftime despite the missed Thursday game in the Europa League.
Toni Gruden; Translated by J. B.
