Few people would imagine Atlético Madrid without Jan Oblak in goal. The Slovenian goalkeeper is in his eleventh season in the red and white jersey, having arrived from Benfica at just 20 years old. During this period he won a league title, a Spanish Super Cup (which he did not play in), a Europa League and a European Super Cup.
On an individual level, Jan Oblak (31 years old) won the Zamora Trophy five times, an absolute record shared with Antoni Ramallets et Victor Valdes. He also played 454 matches for theAtlético de Madrid and is just a stone’s throw away from entering the top 5 in the club’s history. He is only preceded by Koke, Adelardo, Tomás Reñones, Enrique Collar et Carlos Aguilera.
The Slovenian arrived at Atlético during the 2014-2015 season to compensate for the departure of Thibaut Courtois who, after a three-year loan, returned to Chelsea after winning the championship and finishing vice-European champion.
Atleti paid 16 million euros to Benfica for a player who would become an emblem of the club. The legend began to grow during the 2016 Champions League semi-finals, when he saved a penalty from Thomas Müller in the semi-final against Bayern.
Unfortunately for Atleti, they would later lose in the final in Milan against their neighbor Real Madrid on penalties. We also remember his performances against Arsenal in the semi-final of the 2018 Europa League and against Liverpool in the round of 16 of the Champions League in 2020.
His visit to Lisbon
Tonight, Oblak returns to Benfica, the team that opened the doors to European football at the highest level.
Recruited in 2010 fromOlympia LjubljanaOblak was loaned four times (to Beira-Mar, Olhanense, União de Leiria et Rio Ave) before being established at Luz during the 2013/2014 season.
A single year as a starter at Benfica earned him a transfer to Atlético de Madrid, where he made history. The native of Skofja Loka experienced a similar journey to that ofEdersonwhich was also loaned, in this case to Ribeirão and Rio Ave, before settling in Luz and being sold to Manchester City.
Having only stayed at the club for one year, Oblak did not leave a big void within the club. But he will certainly have won the respect and admiration of the supporters. In the 13-14 season, Benfica won the domestic treble (championship, cup and League Cup).
The final of the Ligue Europa
Furthermore, with Oblak in goal, SLB reached the final of the Europa League, played in Turin, where only the king of the competition, Seville, and from the penalty spotprevents him from knowing glory. It was Sevilla’s third title.
In the half, Benfica eliminated the Juventus of “his” final thanks to a great performance from the Slovenian goalkeeper during the return match, which ended in a goalless draw. Previously, they had eliminated theTHE et Tottenham.
