Player Profile: Keylor Navas

Welcome everyone to another post on the Player Profile Series! Today I’ll be looking at a player who guards his team between the sticks. Yes, even goalkeepers are apart of this series 😁. They are just as important as the strikers, but they’re actually more important. Hmm 🤔 . A debate for another day.

Team: Paris-Saint Germain 

Position: Goalkeeper 

Age: 33

Height: 184 cm

Preferred foot: Right 

Nationality: Costa Rica

Competition Stats

Clean sheets: 6

Assists: 0

Saves: 19

Goals conceded: 4

Minutes played: 630

Games played: 7

[stats courtesy of uefa.com]

A former player of Real Madrid and the only goalkeeper to have won 3 consecutive Champions Leagues with the same club, Keylor Navas certainly has a decorated cabinet at home. Now in the present day, Navas has been showing his heroics in goal for France's top tier side, PSG, another team seen as favorites to be crowned champions of Europe. Not only has the French team been clinical in front of goal but with the experienced Navas at the back, they look more formidable. Navas, thanks to his 6 clean sheets, leads the goalkeeping charts for this season's competition. I shall see how I can analyse this man to make this post much easier 😅😁.

Notable Performances

VS Real Madrid, Matchday 1

Well, I've just been talking about Navas leaving Real Madrid and here he goes up against them 😂💁🏽‍♂️ This performance is notable because Navas kept a clean sheet and didn't face many shots at all in the game. He was beaten though, when Gareth Bale lobbed the ball over him to score what looked like Real's fight back. But thanks to VAR, which clearly showed Bale handle the ball, the goal was disallowed. 

No hard feelings Benzema

Click here to watch that incident

VS Club Brugge, Matchday 4

Again, like the Real Madrid game, Navas didn't face many problems. That's up until the 50th minute though. With cat-like reflexes, Navas lost footing but managed to prevent a shot from going in, even further blocking the follow-up to that shot. When the 74th minute came, Navas was to be called to action as Thiago Silva brought down a Club Brugge player in the box, which had the ref point straight to the spot. Navas, firlmy saved the penalty, which was heartbreak and frustration for Club Brugge. 🎭 By the way, PSG hadn't conceded a goal at this point. 🤯

Click here to see the cat-like reflexes

and

Click here to watch the penalty save

VS Real Madrid, Matchday 5

Now PSG had conceded, two goals 😂. But Navas did make some important saves in this game. Firstly in the 27th minute, from what almost became a Toni Kroos thunderbolt, then in the second half by sticking his right leg out to deny Benzema from scoring. PSG managed to get themselves level with Real eventually as the game finished 2-2.

Navas Airlines 😉✈

Click here to watch the first save

and

Click here to watch the second save

VS Borussia Dortmund, Round of 16 1st leg

Okay now for this game, even though the team lost, I just want to acknowledge the save Navas made to deny Sancho from putting one in, in the first half. Haaland was a real nuisance for him in the game though 😆.

Click here to watch the save

Final Thoughts

I will say, we're all so used to looking at the outfield players when watching a football game and that's very much normal. That's street football and other mini games played 😅(no goalies, just really small nets). Keylor Navas has shown his experience and professionalism during this season's Champions League by not even having to face many shots at goal and managing to stop most that came his way. He is certainly a prime example of goalkeeping, doing better than former world-best, Manuel Neuer and other exceptional goalies playing present day. PSG qualified for the quarter-finals before the lockdown came, and now that football is beginning to resume, how far will Navas and his teammates go to finally secure Europe's crown?