Alisson’s Champions League performance away to Paris Saint-Germain last month will be remembered for years to come. The Liverpool goalkeeper made nine saves at the Parc des Princes and described the display as “probably the best performance of my life.”
Top teams live and die by their goalkeeper, and Alisson has been integral to the team’s success since arriving at the club in 2018, helping the Reds to win the Premier League and the Champions League, among other honors.
However, he won’t be around forever; Alisson turns 33 this year, and last November, he expressed a desire to return to Internacional, the Brazilian club with which he started his career.
“There’s always that feeling of good memories and a desire to wear the Inter shirt again,” he told Brazilian media. “I have a three-year contract with Liverpool. I don’t think the future is definitive for anyone, but in football, I hope to fulfill my contract here in England and, then, after that… I’m open (to returning).”
So, perhaps two years of Alisson and Mamardashvili vying for the No. 1 spot are on the horizon, with Caoimhin Kelleher expected to leave this summer in the hope of finding a club that will make him its undisputed first-choice pick between the sticks.
Fans can rest assured that Mamardashvili is not coming to Anfield to play second fiddle to Alisson: he wants to be Liverpool’s main goalkeeper, as he explained last year.
“I was attracted by Liverpool’s project when the club’s representatives met me to sign me,” the Georgian said. “I will fight for the starting goalkeeper position, even if the current goalkeeper does not leave the team.”
Mamardashvili, who at 24 years old is eight years Alisson’s junior, looks like he may well have the quality to replace the Brazilian, whether he wrestles the No. 1 jersey away from him at some point over the next two years or inherits it in two years’ time.
Against Real Madrid on Saturday, Mamardashvili underlined his quality, producing a man-of-the-match performance at the Bernabeu as Valencia recorded a shock win to move seven points clear of the La Liga relegation zone.
(Image: 2025 Diego Souto)
“That may be the case,” Mamardashvili said about whether the display was the best of his career — just as Alisson said about his display in Paris last month. “But there are still many games left and I’m going to do even better. This is the path I always have to follow.”
Among the eight stops he made during the match was a penalty save from Vinicius Junior, diving low to his left to keep out the Brazilian’s admittedly tame effort from 12 yards.
There was also a stunning reaction save to deny Federico Valverde from six yards out, as he used every inch of his 6-foot-6 frame to reach the ball and palm it away from the goal.
The character required to produce a performance like that away from home against a team like Real Madrid is huge, and that only adds to the impressiveness of Mamardashvili’s display.
Arne Slot has always maintained that Alisson is his first-choice goalkeeper when available, but Mamardashvili could be ready to upset the status quo.
