Most goalkeepers have the same blank stare when the referee points to the penalty spot, but there are some goalkeepers who actually feel challenged when they get the chance to show off their ability to hold a penalty.
These goal-saving heroes show their ability in some of the historic iconic moments of La Liga and some of them are still playing in La Liga today.
Here are five goalkeepers who have the best penalty save record in La Liga. All goalkeepers have faced at least five penalties during their career at La Liga Santander to be able to enter this list, and they are sorted by the percentage of salvation they have committed.
The R.Valladolid goalkeeper has the best penalty save record in this category, a remarkable record especially considering this was his first season on LaLiga Santander which he played in full.
The former Barca reserve goalkeeper has faced eight penalty moments in the 2018/19 season and has managed to save three of them, including a penalty from former teammate Lionel Messi, who successfully contributed three points for the club who were just promoted to LaLiga Santander.
Only 10 of the 21 penalties touched Keylor Navas’s net throughout his career in the top league, seven of which were blocked by the Costa Rican goalkeeper and the remaining three soared away from the goal.
The heroic rescue of Kelyor Navas at the 2014 World Cup made him considered a legendary goalkeeper. This might be able to answer why his opponents feel nervous when they have to deal with him in front of the goal.
Jan Oblak has won the last three Zamora trophies, which are awards for goalkeepers in LaLiga with the best record statistics, so it’s no surprise to see Atlético de Madrid’s world-class goalkeeper listed on this list.
The Slovenian national team goalkeeper has not been able to save the three penalties he faced this season, but he managed to stop three penalties in the past season and one penalty in the previous season. On every occasion, his salvation made his team win.
Valladolid is a very lucky club. Like their first goalkeeper, Masip, their reserve goalkeeper Yoel was also an expert goalkeeper in terms of saving penalties.
He saved two of the seven penalties he faced, including against Lionel Messi when he played for Eibar and one from Diego Costa when he played for RC Celta.
Net Murara may have played just two seasons at LaLiga Santander, but he has faced 11 penalties when he defended Valencia.
In his record, he managed to save three penalties well. One penalty he saved in the 2018/19 season, when he managed to hold a penalty from fellow Brazilian Willian Jose, in a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad. He also successfully held Aritz Aduriz (Athletic Bilbao) and Sergio Leon (Real Betis) penalties in a match which ended in a draw and victory last year.
