Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak , today one of the great goalkeepers of the football planet and four-time winner of the 'Zamora' trophy at least winned by LaLiga, did not have an easy start at Atlético de Madrid, where in his first months "he did not speak nobody "and felt" a little lonely and sad. "
He arrived at the rojiblanco team in July 2014 with 21 years, after a tortuous departure from Portuguese Benfica where he did not show up for some training to force the negotiation. Oblak was hired by Atlético in exchange for 16 million euros, a figure at that time very high for a goalkeeper.
With the pressure of the price paid for his arrival and the demand to be the substitute of the Belgian Thibaut Courtois , one of the banners of the team that was champion of the League and finalist of the Champions League the previous year, Oblak suffered an injury in that preseason in the right hip, which gave the possibility to the theoretical substitute goalkeeper, Miguel Ángel Moyá .
"I recognize that the start was a bit complicated. As soon as I arrived, I got injured and then Miguel Ángel Moyá started playing, doing it very well, everything has to be said, so I stayed on the bench, waiting for my chance. I didn't talk much time either with Simeone or with anyone, "explained the Slovenian, five years after that, in an interview with the 'Sportsman's Club'.
To make matters worse, the debut of the Central European goalkeeper could not be less fortunate: he started on the first day of the Champions League, in Athens against the Greek Olympiakos, and received three goals, for the 3-2 defeat of the mattress set. He would not play again until six months later.
"He was a boy who arrived new, started with Spanish and did not control him to be able to communicate well. He needed more time. Besides, he began to hear the first doubts about me. I found myself a little lonely and sad, so I dedicated myself to work and wait for my chance, "recalled Oblak.
With Moyá setting a great season in the red and white goal, the opportunity for Oblak came at a time as unexpected as relevant: the return of the round of 16 of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen at the Vicente Calderón stadium.
Atletico came to the resolution of the crossing with an adverse 1-0 in German lands, and 20 minutes later Moyá noticed a puncture in the left thigh in a race of few meters. Virtually unheated, Oblak jumped on the grass. The rojiblancos matched the tie seven minutes later with a goal from Mario Suarez, but failed to score the second that would give the classification.
After the added time, the penalty shootout came: Raúl García failed first, but Oblak responded by clearing Bayer's first, launched by Turkish-German Hakan Calhanoglu . The subsequent failures of the Turkish Ömer Toprak and the German Stefan Kiessling would give the pass to the quarterfinals to Atletico, with the Slovenian goalkeeper raised to the category of savior.
"I knew I just needed the opportunity to grab it with both hands and show everyone that I was wrong," the goalkeeper reflected today, stabilized as one of the best in the world in his position and with the key piece in the Athletic scheme.
A rojiblanco team that after last season lost much of the key pieces of the last courses, such as the French striker Antoine Griezmann, the Uruguayan defender Diego Godín , the Brazilian Filipe Luis or the Spanish Juanfran Torres , casualties that lead the goalkeeper to Ask for "time to build a new group."
"There have been many changes, and it takes time to build a new group. A new and solid base, because the one you have had the last seven years you no longer have. And the beginnings, as happened to me, can be complicated, difficult, "he said.
However, Oblak is optimistic about how Atlético can end the season. "I think that Simeone and we are all doing a very good job to make a strong block, and I have no doubt that things will go from less to more and we will end where we want to end"; he added.
A rojiblanco team that, today, does not spend its best moment, after breaking a streak of four games without winning and three without scoring on Wednesday winning the Russian Moscow Lokomotiv (2-0), a triumph that allows him to access the Round of 16 of the Champions League.
"This season is a bit more complicated because of the changes we have had, but we are playing good football and I am sure that at the end of the season it will surprise, for good, how we are going to end. I have no doubt about my teammates. , I have a lot of faith in them, "the Slovenian goalkeeper said flatly.
With the label of shy and reserved, Oblak says he is not "as serious as people think" and aims to add more titles to the Europa League and the two Super Cups (from Spain and Europe) he has obtained so far in Atlético, since he considers that he has not achieved everything he would like on the pitch.
"I have not achieved everything that I would like, and that is why I am not satisfied, but I have no doubt that at the end of my career I will be. I know that I will get much more," said the Slovenian goalkeeper of Atlético de Madrid , a star who knew how to overcome a hard start in the rojiblanco team.
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