- Real Madrid are through to the semi-finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League, thanks to Andriy Lunin
- Lunin saved City’s first penalty taken by Bernardo Silva and then stopped Mateo Kovacic’s effort
- The Ukrainian was third choice shot stopper going into the season, behind Thibaut Courtois and Kepa Arrizabalaga
Real Madrid are through to the semi-finals of this season’s UEFA Champions League, thanks to Andriy Lunin. The 25-year-old was the penalty shoot-out hero as the Los Blancos beat defending champions Manchester City at Etihad Stadium to advance to the next stage of Europe’s premier club competition.
Lunin saved City’s first penalty taken by Bernardo Silva and then stopped Mateo Kovacic’s effort before Antonio Rudiger scored the winning penalty that knocked the Cytizens out of the Champions League.
Lunin has since received attention on social media with many praising his performance considering the fact that he is not even Real Madrid’d number one goalkeeper. The Ukrainian was third choice shot stopper going into the season, behind Thibaut Courtois who is injured and Kepa Arrizabalaga. However, he has recently been the man guarding Real Madrid’s goal post.
Andriy Lunin. Photo/ Planet Sport.
With that intro, let’s get to find more info about Andriy Lunin, including his early life, former clubs and his role in Real’s win against City on Wednesday night.
Andriy Lunin Early Life
To start with, Lunin was born on 11 February 1999, in Krasnohrad, Ukraine. While little is known about his parents, his father’s name is Oleksii Lunin and has been supportive throughout the Real Madrid’s star career.
Lunin developed a passion for football at a young age and began his youth career at Metalist Khjarkiv in 2012. After three years at the club, he joined Dnipro where he continued with his development before turning pro and receiving promotion to the senior team in 2016.
Career
In 2017, Lunin won the Top Golden Talent (U-19), a unique national award being awarded to young footballers in Ukraine. He got the attention of top clubs afterwards and after a season at Zorya Luhanks, he landed at La Liga club Real Madrid during the summer of 2018. By completing the move, he became the first Ukrainian to play for Real Madrid.
Lunin spent his early career days at Real playing being loaned out to Spanish clubs Leganes, Valladolid and Oviedo. He has been appearing on the substitutes bench for the Los Blancos since 2020 and eventually got his chance to impress towards the end of last year when Arrizabalaga, the goalie signed on loan to take Courtois place was forced to miss several games due to injury.
Lunin has since impressed and is currently preferred by Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti as the number one shot stopper over Arrizabalaga who already recovered from injury.
Did Kepa Arrizabalaga Help Lunin Save Bernardo’s Penalty?
One of the highlights from the second leg of this season’s UEFA Champions League clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City was Andriy Lunin saving Bernardo Silva’s penalty.
After Luka Modric missed the first penalty, pressure was on Lunin to save City’s pen to keep his team in the tie. Silva stepped up and lofted the ball tamely towards the centre of the post and it was easily saved by Lunin. The Ukrainian goalie was calm and it seemed as if he knew where exactly Silva was going to direct his penalty.
Well, this has since led to theories circulating on the internet with many suggesting that it was Arrizabalaga who advised Lunin not to dive in order to save Silva’s effort. Lunin and his teammate were seen having a talk with hands covering their mouths shortly before the penalty shoot-outs.
The reason why fans think it’s the Arrizabalaga who helped Lunin save the penalty is because back in 2019 during the EFL Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester City, Silva scored his penalty straight down the middle as Kepa dived to his right.
Andriy Lunin saved Bernardo Silva’s penalty during the Champions League quarter-final clash between Real Madrid and Manchester City. Photo/ Le Parisien.
Speaking after last night’s win over City, Lunin did not reveal the details of his discussion with Arrizabalaga but said the conversation with Madrid’s coaches was what prompted to his decision not to dive when Silva took his penalty.
“I needed to take a risk with one of the kicks. We picked one [to stay in the middle] and thank goodness it worked out in our favour. [There] were three players with whom we had doubts about whether to stay in the middle or not. In the end we chose only one because there are five shots and you can’t stay in [the middle] all of them.” Andriy Lunin said as per BBC.
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