Andriy Lunin He was the hero of Real Madrid in Manchester. It’s not the first time. In the first leg of the round of 16 against RB Leipzigstopped the Germans with nine stops, several of them in situations of maximum risk. On Wednesday, before the Citysigned ocho interventions in the siege on his goal, to which he added, as if nothing, of stopped penalties in the round that gave Madrid the pass to the semifinals more agonizing that is remembered.
The history of Lunin is that of the overcoming. In this same tie against City, he was singled out by many after conceding the first English goal in the Bernabeua direct free kick Bernard Silva who caught him wrong, waiting for the center and without paying the necessary attention to the Portuguese’s mischievous shot. It is true that he recovered in that same Bernabéu duel, but The eternal doubt floated in the air: is Lunin a goalkeeper for Madrid in a match of the highest demand?
The intrahistory of penalties told by its protagonists
The question was not new. At the beginning of the season, after the serious injury of Courtoisthe club rushed to hire a new goalkeeper. Lunin was a substitute for the Belgian and it seemed that he was going to prolong that condition before Kepaan emergency operation by the club that did not leave the Ukrainian in a very good position.
In fact, Kepa took over as a starter as soon as he got fit (his summer had been complicated in terms of training) and Lunin returned to the background. And from there he seemed to have few options to get out, despite the fact that Kepa’s performance left some doubts (the eternal comparison of any Madrid goalkeeper with Courtois is always complicated) until a inflection point totally off script. In the warm-up of the group stage match against Braga At the Bernabéu, Kepa was injured and Lunin had to go out urgently to cover the goal. In the 5th minute, a clear penalty of Lucas placed him in an even more delicate situation. But the Ukrainian goalkeeper safely stopped the shot from Djalo. And there the story changed.
Lunin’s decisive strategy to become Manchester’s hero
But, despite Lunin’s good performances, Ancelotti opened a debate in goal. Some statements by the Italian and, above all, his decisions, established a strange alternation under sticks that did not give the desired stability. It covered the months of December and January, and was as evident as in the Spanish Super Cup. Kepa played the semi-final against Atléticoand left doubts again, and the final went to The moon. Ancelotti, despite everything, still did not clear up doubts, since Kepa started the next league match (Almeria, January 21). It was the last time the Basque goalkeeper was seen between the sticks.
From then on Ancelotti decidedly opted, this time, for Lunin as the starter. The Ukrainian has played in the last eleven league games and all four of the Champions League qualifiers. Both in Lepizig like in Manchester He was the key player in two very difficult victories for Madrid that, despite this, have barely altered the icy character of the goalkeeper, whose life is mixed with daily work at Real Madrid and closely following the war that affects his country due to the russian invasion for more than two years now. Circumstance that has further increased its reserved character and a coldness that culminated in Bernardo Silva’s penalty, which he saved from the center of the goal after risking everything on the Portuguese’s ‘Panenka’ card. A demonstration of ice in the veins of the protagonist of a incredible journey from virtual ostracism to the role of the great protagonist of a tie that is now pure Real Madrid history.
2024-04-18 15:59:59
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