Ladies and Gentlemen, let the Real Madrid goalie controversy commence.
Actually, the controversy has been in existence since the first day of the 2013-14 season, but the team had seemingly found a way to dispel the protests from fans over whether "San" Iker Casillas or Diego Lopez should be the number one man in the Madrid pipes. Up to this point, Casillas has taken over Champions League Copa del Rey duties while Lopez has been the main man in the league.
And for now it has worked. Winning cures all the problems and Madrid's 28-game unbeaten run has surely made everyone forget about any lingering conflicts in the net. But on Sunday, Real Madrid fans witnessed something rather disconcerting. Actually, make that two disconcerting things.
The first disconcerting moment came at the 28th minute of the game. Some spotty defending from Los Blancos left Atletico Madrid's Koke wide open on the right side of the box. However, Lopez had a rather solid angle on the player. Koke fired a shot at the left post. The ball flew past a diving Lopez who seemed to react a bit slowly on the shot. But that mistake was nothing compared to the gaffe he would make in stoppage time of the first half. With time winding down in the half, Los Colchoneros' Gabi fired a shot from what looked like 30 feet away from the net. The ball flew past Lopez, who also reacted slowly to this shot. What was embarrassing about this goal was that the ball did not make any last-second curve; it was actually fired toward the middle of the net and hit the mark in a similar spot. That was a shot that Lopez could have and should have saved.
This poor effort from Madrid's keeper is particularly important because Lopez has been known to give up some lazy goals here and there. No one has made a big fuss about it because his teammates have managed to score at will and have usually managed to build large leads that make Lopez's mistakes bearable. But against a big rival in a potential title clincher, that kind of effort is unforgivable.
Enter Casillas who has been patiently waiting in the wings to take back his starter position on a permanent basis. Casillas' nine-game shutout streak came to an end last weekend against Schalke thanks to a beautiful volley from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. However, earlier in that game he made a terrific reflex save on Julian Draxler that would have leveled the game at 1-1.
Casillas has been terrific in his minimal starts and the statistics bear out the performances. He has yet to concede a single goal in the Copa del Rey this year and has only allowed five goals in seven Champions League matches. That is an average of 0.33 goals per game. Casillas has also pitched 10 clean sheets in just 15 games this year.
Lopez has played in 26 games this season and has also pitched 10 clean sheets. He has conceded 26 goals, an average of one goal per game. While some might argue that his competition is better than Casillas', remember— Casillas had to face Atletico Madrid in two games; Lopez conceded three goals in two matches against Los Colchoneros while Casillas pitched two shutouts. He also faced Espanyol, Juventus and Galatasaray twice as well. While Schalke is not a great side, the German team is better than a lot of Spanish teams.
Who should be the main man in Madrid's nets?
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