Atlético de Madrid, Frustrated by a Real Madrid Goalkeeper

Diego Pablo Simeone squad didn’t start La Liga well. Atlético de Madrid only drew (1-1) at home against the newly promoted squad of Alavés, who return to the First División ten years after.

The Basque side was also very lucky as they scored the draw goal in the 94th minute with a great shoot from outside the box by Manu García. Atlético de Madrid scored before at the 92nd minute thanks to Kevin Gameiro after a penalty committed to Fernando Torres. The Madrid side had a lot of chances, but Alavés goalkeeper was great and frustrated every option of scoring a goal.

This goalkeeper is Fernando Pacheco, who grew up at Real Madrid before leaving the club to play in Alavés. The goalie arrived last season to the Basque country side and helped the team to be promoted playing 40 games in the second division and two other games in Copa del Rey.

Pacheco was the third goalkeeper at Real Madrid in the year 2014/15, just after winning the 10th Champions League trophy. Iker Casillas and Keylor Navas were still the owners of the position and Carlo Ancelotti had to split minutes between the two internationals.

With few opportunities at Real Madrid, Pacheco flew away and arrived to Alavés, where he got the promotion with his team mates. Now, after his first game in the first division, everybody is talking about him and how he saved his team at a difficult stadium like Vicente Calderón.

Real Madrid followed the same policy as they used with Álvaro Morata or Daniel Carvajal. The club included a clause in Pacheco’s contract where they can buy back the player in two years time. Therefore, Los Blancos could buy Pacheco at the end of this season. According to the Spanish newspaper Marca, the price would be only €4M for a goalkeeper who has already played with the Under 21 Spanish national team.