Diego Alves: Another penalty saved and a new record

Diego Alves: Another penalty saved and a new record

The Brazilian goalkeeper denied Cristiano Ronaldo from the spot

He has saved six penalties this season which is a new record

Diego Alves is a penalty saving expert. He saved his sixth of the season against Real Madrid, the Valencia stopper denying Cristiano Ronaldo.

That takes him to a new record, beating the five achieved by Reina with Villarreal in 03-04 and Manzanedo in 86-87 with Sabadell.

The Valencia keeper added Ronaldo to the list of players that have failed against him from 12 yards, including Szymanowski, Gabi, Fajr, Griezmann and Vela this season. Only Messi (twice) and Adrian Gonzalez have managed it this year.

Alves has stopped 22 of the 47 spot kicks taken against him as well as two that went off-target.

In all competitions since he joined Spain it’s an even better record, over 50 per cent, with 26 saved to 24 scored.