“Keylor, the best in the world”

Keylor Navas was re-consecrated in the Champions League once again. The Costa Rican goalkeeper showed in Paris that this is his competition and he did it with a recital of good work in goal every time that Barcelona lurked. Only one escaped him, the impossible shot to Lionel Messi's squad that became the only Blaugrana goal of the match that ended 1-1. Insufficient for Barça's comeback. One, which Keylor avoided.

For Dembélé, Navas was a nightmare. The Frenchman was Barcelona's most dangerous striker in the first half and it happened to him up to three times in which he went into the left and looked for the cross shot. Then it was Dest who ran into him. The North American came from behind and looked for a strong, high shot at the near post that Navas cleared with just three fingers of his left hand to ally himself with the crossbar and get it out of the goal. They also collided in the area, but the VAR decreed that there was no penalty.

Precisely from eleven meters was where Keylor was crowned in this meeting. Kurzawa played the second yellow with a penalty that Navas had to stop to prevent Barça from launching definitively. Messi threw strong, but centered and something to the left. The PSG goalkeeper knew he could go there, stopped and again joined the crossbar so that it spit the ball off the line. The goalkeeper stopped the maximum penalty and pointed to his bench, dedicating the penalty to Sergio Rico, who recently lost his father. Mbappé also dedicated his success to him from eleven meters.

In the second half, PSG improved defensively and Keylor had less work but, even so, he took a header at the near post of Busquets that if not for his fast hands he would have finished inside. A total of nine stops Y two clearances of fists that served to return to conform a performance of luxury in Europe.

A remarkable track record in Europe

Keylor Navas knows what it is like to win in Europe and to be the key to taking his team to the top. He did so at Real Madrid up to three times and also consecutively. If PSG was looking for something with his hiring, it was for him to equalize these types of nights and he succeeded. In Madrid he left memorable playoffs and was named even the best goalkeeper of the year in 17/18, the last year of the Whites' triumphal cycle on the continent.

Of the editions that he played in full (on 14/15 and on 18/19 he chained substitution and ownership), the best at the data level was 15/16. That edition only conceded three goals, left a clean sheet nine times, getting the Bernabéu public that season not to know what it was like to receive a goal against at your stadium in the Champions League. They only conceded 2-0 against Wolfsburg in the round of 16 in the game in Germany and Yannick Carrasco's goal that tied the Milan final against Atlético.

'Le Messie c'est Navas'

'The Messiah was Navas'. This is the cover headline of L'Equipe today that opens with a photo of his dedication to the bench after stopping the penalty. On its inside pages they praise him and give him an A. Nine out of 10. France, in general, keeps the note. Le Figaro It goes up to 9.5, touching the honor plate. Le Parisien equals with another nine. “The great man of the match. The goalkeeper kept PSG afloat throughout the first half thanks to several exceptional saves,” they say from the capital's midfield.

The main French sports newspaper has also opened a survey on its website for its readers to comment on the current level of Keylor Navas. “Is Keylor the best goalkeeper in the world?” At the moment, more than half of its readers (61%) think so.