Another week, another amazing play from Costa Rican goalie Keylor Navas. Whether it’s making a diving save off Lionel Messi or denying penalty kicks, Real Madrid’s star keeper continues to raise his play as the 2015-2016 season winds down.
In Saturday’s La Liga game against last-place Getafe, Real Madrid cruised to an easy 5-1 victory. Even with the game well in hand, the highlight of the day came from Navas on a close-range, indirect free kick in the 74th minute.
“Well everybody has heard how much I am in love with this player,” yelled announcer Ray Hudson on the beIN Sports English-language broadcast. “And that is why!”
The rare play set up what should have been an easy goal for Getafe from point blank range, but Navas continues to make the unimaginable seem ordinary with his acrobatic saves.
With its latest win, Real Madrid temporarily moves into second place in La Liga, just one point behind league-leader Barcelona. Though Barça plays tomorrow in a game that it is expected to win, as does third place Atlético Madrid, it was almost unthinkable a few weeks ago that the lagging Real Madrid would have any chance of hanging with its two biggest rivals in the La Liga race.
Madrid’s season turned around earlier this month when it beat Barcelona 2-1 in a classic battle, basically securing new coach Zinedine Zidane’s retention for next season.
And despite slip-ups earlier this season, Navas and Madrid have a great chance to capture another important title. They’re in the semifinals of the Champions League, where they’ll meet Manchester City from the English Premier League on April 26 in the first part of the two-leg series, with a spot in the championship on the line.
