The drop due to coronavirus from the meta Jordi Masip, starter in the garter belt with the Real Valladolid and that last season he played 35 of the 38 home league games with the Blanquivioleta team – the other three were the former Sevilla player Jose Antonio Caro, now in the Ponferradina– It will give the opportunity to make his debut under the sticks to the experienced Madrid goalkeeper Roberto Jiménez Gago, 34, whom Manuel Pellegrini – now a Betic coach – had at his command last season in the ranks of West Ham. In the second part of the season, Roberto went to Alavés, where his performance was quite discreet, although in the match of the penultimate day he excelled at Villamarín, where the Vitorians won 1-2 and sealed the permanence, with a great match of your goalkeeper.
Roberto, who formed in the Atlético de Madrid quarry and has passed through the ranks of Nástic, Zaragoza, Benfica, Espanyol, Málaga, West Ham and Alavés, started the 2019/20 season in the ranks of the London team, after leaving Málaga at the end of the 2017/18 -demission- and the 2018/19 season in the ranks of Espanyol with Rubi, where he did not play for a minute and was always in the shadow of Diego López.
At West Ham, with Pellegrini as coach, Roberto started for six consecutive days in the Premier League (from 8 to 13) due to the hip injury of Pole Fabianski, although things did not go very well for him (five defeats and a draw), so that the British David Martin -the third goalkeeper- ended up taking away the position, which he recovered briefly in the penultimate match of Pellegrini (defeat 2-1 against Crystal Palace). In total Roberto played 7 starting games for West Ham, with 6 defeats, a draw, 16 goals conceded and 7 in favor.
Roberto left for Alavés in January, but due to a knee injury and the pandemic, he could not debut until mid-June. He played 8 starting matches with a balance of 2 wins, a draw and 5 losses, 4 goals for and 17 against. Last season, therefore, Roberto played 15 starting games between West Ham and Alavés, in which he added 2 wins, 2 draws and 13 losses, 11 goals for and 33 against. The first victory was in his debut game with Alavés, against Real Sociedad (2-0), and the second, the one mentioned in Villamarín (1-2), where Roberto excelled especially in shots from Canales, Borja Iglesias and Juanmi, who ended up unhinged – and expelled – after missing a very clear chance and protesting to the referee, who claimed a corner not awarded. Juanmi has already served the two penalty games for that expulsion and on Sunday they will be able to see each other again with Roberto.