Zinedine Zidane handed 26-year-old goalkeeper Alphonse Areola his first Real Madrid start in Wednesday’s LaLiga match against Osasuna at the Bernabeu.
Areola made 75 appearances with Paris Saint-Germain before joining Los Blancos on loan (Real sold Keylor Navas to PSG).
@AreolaOfficiel is ready for his debut tonight!! #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/NrvK51vKS8
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) September 25, 2019
In the first half, Areola casually snared the ball with one hand, barely even looking at the ball as he pulled it out of the sky and prepared to push the ball forward and start another Real Madrid attack.
Unreal one handed grab from Areola #RealMadridOsasuna pic.twitter.com/GvIlGbUumd
— jak (@jakkrm1) September 25, 2019
The Areola one-hand save looked like LeBron James grabbing an uncontested rebound or Odell Beckham Jr. snagging a pass in the end zone.
Ostensibly the backup to Thibaut Courtois, the Areola one-hand save is making fans everywhere clamor for Areola to become Zidane’s No. 1 keeper.
No one:
Areola all match long: pic.twitter.com/qSyRIA27kp— AhmadF (@Ahmadoftf) September 25, 2019
Why do I already prefer Areola over Courtois?! #sorrynotsorry #RMAOSA
— Brigitta Posta (@bri_posta) September 25, 2019
Courtois when he saw that Areola one hand save.. pic.twitter.com/zbIg6QwrTd
— Blanco Lon (@BlancosFutbol) September 25, 2019
Areola has absolutely no business putting in a better shift in 45 minutes than Courtois has done in all of his games, yet here he is catching balls with one hand and I’m totally here for it.
— Shruti (@snyad6) September 25, 2019
Areola telling Kroos about his one handed save. #RMAOSA pic.twitter.com/TRehiF8Vdz
— MAJ (@Ultra_Suristic) September 25, 2019
So much love was given to Areola that his name was trending on Twitter. This disappointed some who were hoping to see nipples.
When I saw “Areola” trending I thought nipples were trending I’m slightly disappointed pic.twitter.com/gS8sqYYw8W
— Tiffany (@clingyuwu) September 25, 2019
Areola helped keep a clean sheet in Real’s 2-0 win over Osasuna, with goals from Vinícius Jr and Rodrygo helping the Merengues jump to the top of the LaLiga table.
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