There is always intense competition in the Spanish championship not only for victory but also for individual awards. For example, they include the title of the best goalkeeper of the tournament. By the way, Laliga live is now covered on the sports statistics website. Here you can follow all the matches and not miss anything important.
So, in Spain, the best goalkeeper at the end of the season gets the Samora Trophy. In the 2008/2009 campaign, Victor Valdés won this award. For the “Barcelona” goalkeeper, it was already the second prize of his career.
That season, he played 35 games in La Liga. He conceded only 31 goals. That’s noticeably less than any of his competitors. Thanks to this, the goalkeeper won his prize.
The most important thing is that Valdés’ reliable play was one of the factors that allowed “Barcelona” to triumph in the domestic championship. It is easy to follow the Catalans’ matches in the Laliga even now in live mode. It will allow you to be aware of the current situation.
As for Valdés, he had a very steady and confident campaign in 2008/2009. There were no malfunctions in his game, he regularly saved his team both against the league underdogs and direct opponents. His confidence was transmitted to his teammates. Thanks to this, “Barcelona” easily won the championship race.
Valdés’s main strengths
There has never been any doubt in the talent of Valdés. The only thing is that the keeper often lacked the stability to please his performances on a regular basis. This had a negative impact on the football results of the Catalans. However, in the 2008/2009 campaign, the keeper reached a new level. First, we can highlight his chemistry with defenders. He interacted perfectly with Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Gaby Milito and others. As a result, there were not many chances at the Catalan goal. Secondly, Valdes felt the support of the coaching staff. Thanks to the confidence of Josep Guardiola, he was able to fully understand his role in the team.
As for the strengths of this goalkeeper, these include:
- The ability to position himself intelligently in the goal and reduce the angle of fire for the attacker. This is especially important when going one-on-one.
- Great reaction. In some situations, Valdes saved the game even when it seemed that the ball would inevitably find its way into the net.
- A lot of experience. Thanks to it, the keeper knew when to make certain moves. There were virtually no mistakes in his movements.
Thanks to a confident performance of the keeper, the results of all the football matches of the Catalans were much better. That season, the team managed to win not only La Liga, but also the Spanish Cup and the Champions League. It was perhaps the most successful campaign in Valdés’ career.
