Oblak, another leap into history

Jan Oblak is one of those footballers who are the living history of a team without having to leave it or retire. In each Atlético match, the Slovenian writes one more page in his baggage as probably the best goalkeeper in the rojiblanco club’s 118 years and against Real Sociedad he will add a new milestone when he still has a long career ahead of him.

If there is no setback, Oblak will defend Atlético’s goal in his 315th match as a mattress, surpassing a Luis Amaranto Perea whom he equaled last Tuesday in the Champions duel against Liverpool and will settle on the podium as the third most capped foreign player in club history. A feat that places him only behind his former teammates Diego Godín (389) and Filipe Luis (333), two other references in the athletic pantheon. The Brazilian could be left behind by this same course.

Oblak lifted his fifth Zamora trophy last season, equaling Víctor Valdés and Ramallets as the goalkeepers with the most wound in LaLiga, and this season he aspires to position himself as the solo leader in that facet despite the fact that the team and the goalkeeper himself have started less confident than in recent seasons. At 28 years old, Oblak is the second captain of Atlético and an institution in the club. With a contract until 2023, the offices of the Wanda Metropolitano are working on a renovation so that the Slovenian continues to be linked to a team that he arrived in the summer of 2014.

Oblak es the world’s most valuable goalkeeper for Transfermarkt, with a price of 70 million after being the only goalkeeper to reach 100. During the pandemic, the specialized website carried out a general decrease in the value of the goalkeepers, so that the ’13’ rojiblanco ceased to be the most sought-after of all LaLiga, but not for that reason it lowered its level and its benefits. Oblak already has only 26 players ahead in the historical classification of Atlético matches and aims to finish the course in the top-20. A goalkeeper who never tires of making history as a rojiblanco.