Oblak does know how to stop penalties

Oblak was decisive in the match against Deportivo Alavés. The Slovenian goalkeeper stopped a maximum penalty against Joselu in the last minutes of the game and that led Atlético to keep the three points and keep the distance with their pursuers. The rojiblanco goalkeeper was very successful in the action of the penalty, luckily he is good at it, despite the majority belief that he is not. But Oblak does know how to stop penalties.

The goalkeeper has saved eight penalties (in addition Falcao and Sandro shot two out) in 28 shots in official matches. Not counting penalty shootouts. The average goalkeeper for Atlético is 28.5%, which is a very high percentage in this type of play. Of the eight penalties, Messi scored one in the rebound. And one of them was decisive for the Madrid team, since it helped Atlético to qualify for the Champions League final in Milan. Müller was stopped in a crucial moment of the meeting between Bayern and the Madrid team.

The one who stopped Joselu on Sunday against Deportivo Alavés is the first to do so at home. The rest had detained him outside the home. Likewise, and without counting, of course, Oblak 'looked away' at Falcao's Champions League launches with Monaco and Sandro in LaLiga, with Valladolid. If we talk only about the league championship, Oblak stopped five of 20 shots, which is 25% correct.

The Atlético goalkeeper comes out very well compared to Ter Stegen and Courtois, the goalkeepers of Barcelona and Real Madrid, as revealed by the data collected by athletic_stats. The first, counting all the competitions, and leaving out the penalty shootouts, stopped 9 out of 45 shots, which means a 20% success rate. For its part, the Real Madrid goalkeeper, counting all the competitions, stopped 4 of 37 maximum penalties, an 11% success rate. As can be seen, both goalkeepers with an average very far from Oblak's 28.5%.

Speaking only of LaLiga, Courtois saved three penalties out of 21 that were thrown at him (14% correct). Ter Stegen stopped one of 12 (8% correct). Oblak, as we have outlined above, had a 25% success only in LaLiga.

Atlético has for many the best goalkeeper in the world And for the remainder of the season, the action against Joselu can give an extra morale to a team that has to face ten finals to win the league title. So, contrary to many opinions, Jan Oblak does know how to save penalties.