Real Madrid goalkeeper Andriy Lunin has admitted he expected Bernardo Silva to take his penalty in the middle during Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final.
After holding Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes, Madrid headed to a penalty shootout, where Lunin saved from Bernardo Silva and Mateo Kovacic to help Los Blancos win and book their place in the last four.
Lunin’s save on Silva was particularly brutal as he simply stood still and collected the Portugal international’s effort, and he admitted his preparation for the match had left him confident Silva would bring down the cross.
“Before the penalty shootout we prepared all the City players who were still on the pitch, we had to take a risk with one, we chose one and thank God it went well, that of Bernardo,” Lunin explained. “There were three options to stay in the center and we chose one.”
Interestingly, Lunin was seen preparing for the shootout with teammate Kepa Arrizabalaga, who was penalized by City during his time with parent club Chelsea.
In the 2019 Carabao Cup final, Kepa was beaten from the spot by Silva, who sent his effort straight down the middle.
Although it was Lunín who received the applause after the final whistle, the goalkeeper was keen to praise his Madrid teammates for their colossal efforts to even secure the penalty shootout.
“In these cases, I say that there are matches that we have to endure, that we have to overcome, that we cannot always play with the ball and be the best team on the pitch,” he said. he declared. “For me, above all, it’s a great experience and the team suffered a lot, I can’t run like that even for five minutes and they ran 120.”