Oblak ensures Atletico seals 4th straight last-8 spot
Print Edition
JAN Oblak made one great stop. Then another. And another. All within a few seconds.
Oblak’s spectacular triple-save midway through the second half helped Atletico Madrid draw 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday and reach the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals for the fourth straight season.
“Sometimes you make three saves, and sometimes they score a goal with the first attempt,” Oblak said. “It is difficult to explain. I saw the ball and went for it. I reacted quickly and everything went well for me.”
Oblak came up big every time Leverkusen got close to his goal, proving crucial for Atletico as it protected its 4-2 first-leg victory in the last 16. “That’s why we say that he is the best goalkeeper in the world,” Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann said. “He shows it in every match.”
Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno also played well to keep Atletico from capitalizing on its chances at the Vicente Calderon stadium.
Leverkusen was trying to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since it lost to Real Madrid in the 2002 final. The German club was eliminated by Atletico at this same stage in a penalty shootout two seasons ago, when Oblak also thrived with an important penalty save.
The goalkeeper made amazing back-to-back saves on Wednesday after a mistake by Atletico defender Jose Gimenez led to a dangerous breakaway for Leverkusen in the 68th minute.
Oblak first stopped Julian Brandt’s attempt in a one-on-one, then immediately threw himself in front of the goal to keep Kevin Volland from scoring from the rebound, and again outstretched his arms to block Volland’s other attempt from close range.
The German club still had another chance in the same move, but the shot by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez missed wide of the far post as Oblak watched.
Oblak later made two other key stops to keep out shots by Leon Bailey and Kevin Kampl.
“Congratulations to Atletico and Oblak. He made a lot of great saves,” Leverkusen coach Tayfun Korkut said. “We couldn’t get into our dynamic. We played well, we created chances, had some good ones, a quadruple one, but still we could not score.”
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