Jan Oblak stands alongside coach Diego Simeone for the successful era at Atletico Madrid. In the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday (April 10, 2024), the keeper could become one of the decisive players again.
Quarter-finals in the Champions League, it’s the time of the big football evenings again – made for players like Jan Oblak. Even before the second leg of the round of 16 against Inter, the Spanish sports press was praising the skills of the Atletico keeper, who had already recorded many a great victory in the European Cup. And Oblak once again became the decisive man against the Italians.
Three Inter shooters fail against Oblak
In a nerve-wracking game, Atletico saved themselves into extra time against last year’s finalists with a goal in the 87th minute. In the penalty shootout, Oblak then parried the penalties from Alexis Sanchez and Davy Klaassen – and in doing so probably made the last Inter shooter, Lautaro Martinez, so worried that he chased the ball over the goal. It was the third time that Oblak won a penalty shootout with Atletico in the premier class; no other keeper has achieved that.
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The 31-year-old Slovenian has already achieved hero status among Atletico fans on other big Champions League nights: in the 2020 round of 16, he drove Liverpool to despair with his saves in the victory at Anfield Road. His triple defense against Bayer Leverkusen in 2017 made it into the Champions League archive highlights.
And FC Bayern will still remember with horror the failure in the 2016 semi-final against Atletico, when the brilliant Oblak, among other things, saved a penalty from Thomas Müller.
Atletico’s final trauma – also with keeper Oblak
The keeper also dedicated the triumph against Inter to the fans. “Let’s see if we can give them something to cheer about this year and win a title,” he told Marca after reaching the quarter-finals. Oblak has been between the posts at Atletico for ten years – long enough to know the history of the club, which won four European titles but never the most valuable trophy, the Champions League trophy. The unfortunate final defeat in 2016, when Oblak was also powerless in the penalty shootout against Real Madrid, was the continuation of Atletico’s trauma.
Atletico continues to chase the Champions League title
This season too, Atletico, who will host BVB in the quarter-final first leg on Wednesday evening, probably only have a chance of winning the Champions League title. In the league, the “Rojiblancos” are 17 points behind the leaders. Also because the defense, which has been feared for many years, appears unusually vulnerable. In the season so far, Atletico conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game – more than twice as many as in the record 2015/16 season, when Oblak only conceded 26 goals in 51 competitive games.
Coach Simeone and keeper Oblak – constants at Atletico
However, the experts in Spain largely blame this on Oblak’s front men and not on the still reliable goalkeeper, who, according to “Marca” statistics, is on the way to a new season’s best with more than three saves per game so far.
How highly valued the keeper from Ljubljana is at Atletico could also be seen from the fact that, according to media reports, his contract, which expired in 2023 (now extended until 2028), had an exit clause of 120 million euros. A considerable sum for a goalkeeper who is over 30 years old. But Oblak, alongside coach dervish Diego Simeone, has been the great constant at Atletico for years.
Goalkeeping coach Vercellone – Oblak’s whisperer
A large part of this in Madrid is also attributed to the goalkeeping coach Pablo Vercellone, a long-time confidante of Coach Simeone, who made Thibaut Courtois the top goalkeeper at Atletico. Under Vercellone’s guidance, Oblak even won the Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the best goalkeeper in the Spanish league five times.
Vercellone’s team’s specialty should also include its own, comprehensive analyzes of opposing penalty takers. Oblak was also provided with this in the quarter-finals against Inter, as it was said afterwards – apparently with success. It can be assumed that the keeper already has a dossier on Dortmund’s penalty takers for a possible showdown in the quarter-finals.