Group stage of the UEFA Champions League 2023/24 season started on Tuesday. The main event took place in Rome, where the Spanish Atletico Madrid drew away with the local Lazio (1:1). The Mattress Makers were just a little short of leaving the Stadio Olimpico with three points: the score was opened by the efforts of Pablo Barrios in the 29th minute, but it was tied in the 95th.
Roman goalkeeper Ivan Provedel came into the opponent's penalty area to save his teammates from defeat and coped with the task: he headed the cross and brought the arena into ecstasy.
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"I will remember this evening for the rest of my life. I'm happy, especially because we managed to equalize the score in a match that we didn't deserve to lose. I haven’t realized it yet… Later I will understand that I scored in the Champions League. It's a well-deserved draw — we have to move on. Football is sometimes characterized by moments rather than the game. It's a pity that I had to compare in the last seconds. I hope this point will give us impetus, motivation and enthusiasm. I already scored in Serie B in a similar way: I jumped out and scored.”
Ivan Provedel for the official UEFA website
Russian fans are especially pleased with the news from Rome. After all, 29-year-old Provedel has a Russian mother, and his grandfather knew Lev Yashin himself.
Before we remember all the goalkeepers-scorers in the Champions League, let's compare Provedel's goal with Alisson Becker's goal, which in May 2021 brought Liverpool victory in the English Premier League (EPL) match with West Bromwich.
The Brazilian also scored in the 95th minute! And he also scored after a cross (though from a corner).
And now we return to the Champions League and note that only five goalkeepers managed to score in the main club tournament in Europe.
Sinan Bolat In November 2009, Standard played a draw with AZ Alkmaar (1:1) and qualified for the Europa League from third place. Thanks to the goalkeeper, who equalized the score in the 95th minute (it seems to be a magical time for goalkeepers) and became the first goalkeeper in the history of the Champions League to score from the game.
Hans-Jörg ButtThe famous German scored 32 times in 18 years of professional football. Butt has a rather funny story in the Champions League: he scored from the penalty spot three times, defending the colors of Hamburg, Bayer and Bayern… And Juventus suffered all three times! The real curse of the Italian grandee.
Dimitar IvankovA unique Bulgarian (42 goals during a career that lasted from 1996 to 2012) scored for Levski in 2000. Again from the 11-meter mark.
Vincent EnyemaThe legend of the Nigerian national team was spectacular in the summer of 2010 in the Champions League qualification. Then, as the goalkeeper of Hapoel Tel Aviv, he scored a penalty in the game with Salzburg.