Oblak Enhances His Legend

Atlético Madrid has concluded a season that fell short of expectations, despite investing around 200 million euros in the summer to sign Julián Álvarez, Sorloth, Gallagher, and Le Normand. However, the defensive strategy under Cholo Simeone has been crucial for Jan Oblak to secure his sixth Zamora Trophy, a La Liga record, surpassing Barcelona legends Víctor Valdés and Antoni Ramallets.

The Atlético goalkeeper, who didn't even travel for the league finale at Montilivi, conceded 30 goals in 36 matches, averaging 0.83. He outperformed Real Madrid's Thibaut Courtois, who also missed the match against Real Sociedad and finished with an average of 0.96 (29 goals in 30 games), succeeding Unai Simón in the record books.

Despite being questioned in recent years and speculation about Atlético accepting a good offer for a transfer, Oblak remains a reliable asset for the team after eleven seasons at the club, having been signed from Benfica for 16 million euros in the summer of 2014. Although it wasn't his best season, and he has a contract until 2028 with a high salary of around 20 million euros gross per year, the highest in the squad, the Balkan consistently performs as an undisputed starter, this time ahead of Argentine Juan Musso, who was left with the Copa del Rey and the honour of closing the league in Girona.

In reality, Athletic was more secure at the back than Athletic, but Unai Simón, the Spanish national team's first-choice goalkeeper, could not compete for this individual accolade as he did not play the minimum of 28 matches required in the regular tournament to be eligible for the Zamora Trophy.

Also surpassed by Barcelona's Ter Stegen in the 22-23 season and Sevilla's Bono in the 21-22 campaign, Oblak reclaims the throne he held four years ago when Atlético won the league. Hampered by the poor performance of his team away from home in recent weeks, the Slovenian prevails with his worst average among all his achievements.

In that previous Zamora, he conceded 25 goals, five fewer than now, in 38 matches, averaging 0.66 per game. In the 18-19 season, Oblak was also the goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded, then with 27 goals in 37 matches (0.73 on average). That Zamora was the last of the four he won consecutively. His best average, of only 0.47 goals per match, was achieved in the 15-16 season when he conceded just 18 goals.