Future Liverpool goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili will be his new fans’ good books after downing one of their nemesis.
The Georgian, who will join the Reds in the summer, was Valencia’s hero on Saturday night against Real Madrid.
Making nine saves he helped his relegation-battling side to a first win at the Bernabeu, but it was one stop on Vinicius Jr that stood out as it was from the penalty spot.
He correctly read a frankly poor effort from the Brazilian, and later revealed how he got in the Ballon d’Or runner-up’s head.
“I had a conversation with Vinicius and won 50 euros from him,” he said in the mixed zone post-match.
“Yes, I asked him if he wanted to gamble 50 euros and he said yes. I stopped him and I won.
“He was supposed to pay me after the game , but he hasn’t given it to me yet. It’s no big deal.”
Liverpool fans have bad memories of Vinicius, given that he has five goals against them in five games, including the 2022 Champions League winner.
He did go on to score against Valencia, but the goal came between Mouctar Diakhaby’s opener and Hugo Duro’s winner in a huge victory for former West Brom and Huddersfield manager Carlos Corberan.
With three wins and two draws in their past five games, Valencia are now pulling away from the relegation zone where they had spent much of the season.
Some of that was down to Mamardashvili, too, who had begun the season well below the level that convinced Liverpool to sign him for £26million.
Opening up on his tricky start, he said: “We all have bad days, but I always want to show who I am. And today I showed it.
ASMamardashvili expressed his confidence to the media post match[/caption]
“I think that’s why I’m happy, content, and I have to continue like this, along these lines. We got the win against a very big team, we beat a great team.
“We’re in the First Division and we have to play with personality because if not, we’re not going to win any games. We have to play like this, strong, tough, and with personality.”
The 24-year-old’s penalty save also moved him up an impressive list for one of Spain’s most legendary clubs.
He’s now joint fourth for penalty saves by Valencia goalkeepers with five, with Santi Canizares (11), Diego Alves (13) and Jose Manuel Sempere (13) ahead.
This was one of his easiest, though, with Vinicius shooting only just to the right of the goal, meaning Mamardashvili was always going to make a save if he picked the right side.
The penalty miss was Vinicius second of the season for Real, while he has a third in 2024/25 for Brazil.
He’s been successful on four other occasions, but that quite clearly isn’t good enough for the Bernabeu, who greeted his performance with boos for the first time.
Such a slip up could’ve seen Barcelona go six points clear at the top and close in on the title, but Hansi Flick’s side could only draw against Real Betis later in the day, meaning there’s four points between the titans with a Clasico still to come on May 11.
