Porto has begun to ‘fix’ its adventure in the Champions League by closing its goalkeeper. After starting with two defeats (2-1 against Atltico Madrid and 0-3 against Bruges) the ‘dragons’ have consecutively beaten Leverkusen (2-0 and 0-3) and the Belgian team (0-4) getting into the round of 16 with a Diogo Costa impassable.
Champions League (Day 5): Summary and goals of Bruges 0-4 Porto
“Diogo is in the games to defend. If not, we wouldn’t have goalkeepers. But, of course, it’s difficult to save penalties! He doesn’t need my praise so that everyone understands that he is the best Portuguese goalkeeper today”, Sergio Conceiao pointed out after a of his last exhibitions in Europe. Porto’s coach surrendered to his ‘padlock’.
The Portuguese goalkeeper has stopped penalties consecutively against Schick, Demirbay and Lang. Since there is data from Opta (2003-04) it is the first goalkeeper to ‘save’ three penalties in a Champions League. It’s tournament history. And all with similar interventions, since the three have been to his left at mid-height.
They have been so similar that in all of them he has received pitches with power and in all of them he has put in a good hard right hand. first went to Schick in the first match against Bayer.
After to Dermibay in the return match. The similarity makes it almost seem like the same release.
And finally, to Langwhich he launched after Vanaken previously saw how he was stopped by another that was ordered to be repeated.
“I know the bad times will come. It won’t always be right, but I work hard to keep mistakes at bay,” said Costa after shining at the Jan Breydelstadion. His eight clean sheets in 15 games between all tournaments this campaign (he has barely conceded six goals in 10 Primeira Liga games) highlight the qualities of a 23-year-old footballer who was the Best Goalkeeper last season in Portugal. In his first course settled in ownership he left.
Of course those clean sheets is not the best indicator to evaluate a goalkeeper, since to achieve them also the defensive work of the whole team is very important. If we look at the map of shots that he has faced in his league and in the Champions League, we can appreciate the number of shots that have had to be made from distant positions or with a reduced angle.
Yellow dots mean that the quality of those shots was not the highest. On the contrary, he has hardly received shots from the small area and, even so, he has stopped more than those who have marked him. This speaks highly of how Porto has defended to protect their goalkeeper. Not in vain, he is the fourth goalkeeper in the Champions League who receives easier shots between sticks.
Thus, it is better to talk about the goals that Diogo has avoided based on the quality of the shots he has faced. In this sense, it can be ensured that Costa is showing a high level. In the Portuguese league despite those seven goals has avoided 2.2 than it should. In Champions it goes up to 2.5 (He has conceded six).
Between both competitions are 12 goals conceded when they should have been about 7.3. The rivals have had to adjust his shots a lot to make him a goal. Where the most damage has been done to him has been down to his left, with 6 goals from 13 shots. For ah he has only had one 54% success. In the rest of the zones (if we divide the goal into six parts, she has stopped at least more than two thirds in each of them.
foot insurance
But it’s not just his sleight of hand and reflexes that impress. With the feet is another insurance, a very profitable option for his peers. It doesn’t feel like it burns every time he gets a pass. And above all has a large long displacementcapable of generating danger for rivals and that Porto exploits very well.
Let them tell Bayer Leverkusen. This is how the Dragons team went ahead in their 4-0 win. Diogo receives with enough space to think. He has the two center backs on both sides to play short and not take risks.
Suddenly he sees the movement on the left wing of Galen, who throws the unmarking (does not appear in the image). Diogo sees him and sends him the ball.
The pass goes so precisely that it goes directly to the foot of his partner. Galeno then finishes the play with a lot of class, but that pass from Diogo Costa broke a static defense simply with a pass.
In the Champions League, in fact, it is the third goalkeeper who has completed the most passes of more than 35 meters every 90 minutes, with 7.6. The average length of all his passes is 34.3 meters, the fifth highest in the competition. This demonstrates, on the one hand, Porto’s style of play when it comes to the ball and, at the same time, how much the team trusts its goalkeeper’s long movement.
maybe his biggest handicap is in the balls overlooked. In the lateral centers it is difficult for the area to go out under sticks and clear. His percentage is not very high. Taking the Portuguese league as a measure, it faces some 12 centers for every 90 minutes, repelling just 0.6, which is a meager 5%.
There is no doubt that his performance at the international level is being very high. The Champions League is a great showcase and Diogo Costa is making the most of it.
In addition to his quality under the sticks, Diogo Costa is very good at going out and playing with his feet
“He’s a star, he’s going to be a great goalkeeper”, warns Iker Casillas when he met him at Do Dragao. Criticism already places him at the ‘top’ and on the agenda of the ‘greats’. “Diogo is not only now one of the best goalkeepers in Europe, he is one of the best in the world. He can become the most expensive goalkeeper ever. He is already at the level of the best,” highlighted the former Portuguese international Maniche in ‘Diario de News’. The former Atlético de Madrid player also described his qualities.
Starter in Qatar with Portugal
“In addition to his quality under the sticks, he is very good at going out and playing with his feet. This is a characteristic of modern goalkeepers that great coaches greatly appreciate. In addition, he has great vision and, despite his age, also great charisma and presence in goal”, explained Maniche. At 23, Costa is preparing to start in Qatar with Portugal. Fernando Santos gave him the ‘1 ‘ in the last two games against the Czech Republic and Spain.
“I was born in Switzerland, but I returned to Porto when I was seven years old and I always had a passion for football. All the effort of my parents has been worth it. I like to be compared to great goalkeepers (Vitor Baa, Casillas…), but I only think about my path, doing the best I can… and the future will tell”, said the goalkeeper. He is in his ‘prime’ and the World Cup is coming.
