The situation
The time has finally come for Lunin (23 years old) this season. Real Madrid’s second goalkeeper was once again a starter in the Nations League with Ukraine in the match against Armenia (0-5). Four worthwhile stops that make him pick up the pulse of the official competition again. Lunin had not played since he did so at the end of last season with Real Madrid, with LaLiga already resolved, against Atlético de Madrid and Cádiz on May 8 and 15, respectively. Those two, and two other Cup matches against Alcoyano and Elche in the round of 32 and eighth, were the only appearances of the Ukrainian goalkeeper in the course. His team has given him air again and there he has, in fact, a good opportunity to finally find some regularity and feel important. The reality is that it is a goal that is without an owner or pending to find it.
The details
In the five matches played by Ukraine in the Nations League, four different goalkeepers have acted: Lunin himself, Pyatov, who is more veteran (38) and consolidated, Riznyk (23, like Lunin) and Trubin (21). Of them all, Lunin is the only one to have kept a clean sheet in his games (he also won the first, 0-1 against the Republic of Ireland). Last summer was difficult for Lunin. He had to make the decision to make the final leap and leave Real Madrid to look for minutes in another team or wait. Russia’s invasion of his country made last season a nightmare for him. To all this he added that he became a father last summer. And that last one was the main reason why Lunin finally decided not to move from Madrid and assume the role of substitute for Courtois, currently the fittest goalkeeper in the world. The reality is that Lunin still has a long career ahead of him. Despite his youth (23) he has shown signs of his quality in the few opportunities he has had to play for Madrid: five games, six goals conceded.