Vladislav Stoyanov was a nightmare for Ronaldo

There are not so many goalkeepers, who can say ‘I have kept my sheet clean against Cristiano Ronaldo and his team’. Moreover, there are only 3 goalkeepers in the world, which have saved 2 penalties, Ronaldo has taken.

Vladislav Stoyanov – the goalkeeper of Bulgaria and Ludogorets Razgrad showed a magnificent performance and managed to keep his sheet clean in the friendly match between Portugal and Bulgaria in Leiria last week. You could see Ronaldo’s desperation after the match, as he left the pitch as fast as he could. Cristiano had about 9 goal-scoring chances (including a penalty and 2 free-kicks), but Stoyanov saved all of them.

The Bulgarian goalkeeper made 4 saves within the first 5 minutes of the game. In the 2nd minute of the match, Nani went one on one against Stoyanov, but the Bulgarian showed a great reflexes and punched the ball away into a corner. After 20 minutes, Ronaldo had the chance to shoot from a free-kick, but Vladislav Stoyanov tipped the ball away again. Meanwhile, the Bulgarians found the Portugal’s net and put Portuguese under pressure.

After the break, Real Madrid’s star had another opportunity to shoot from a free-kick, but there was something very similar to a brick wall at the Bulgarian’s goal – that was Stoyanov, who denied Ronaldo again. In the 60th minute of the game, the Portuguese was awarded a penalty and that was the clearest chance for the hosts. But can you believe that? Stoyanov made a one-handed save and made Ronaldo look sad. A couple of minutes later, the forward had another chance to score, but the angle was tight and Stoyanov made another save.

In the 90th minute of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo outjumped a Bulgarian defender and headed the ball towards the goal, but the goalkeeper showed again a real world class, tipping the ball away. And that was the last action in the match.

The most important thing is that this is the not first penalty, Stoyanov has saved when being against Ronaldo. The Portuguese forward missed a penalty in The Champions League against the Bulgarian champion Ludogorets two years ago. And guess who was the goalkeeper. Of course, Stoyanov.

At both ends, Stoyanov is not the only goalkeeper to save 2 penalties, taken by Ronaldo. Carlos Kameni of Malaga and Diego Alves of Valencia have also done such thing. Kameni did it on 18th April 2015 and on 21st February 2016, while Alves made his first save against Ronaldo 6 years ago when he played for Almeria.