Giorgi Mamardashvili received plenty of praise in the Spanish press as he played an integral role in Valencia’s victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.
The Georgian goalkeeper, who joined Liverpool last summer before being loaned straight back to Valencia for the season, made a total of eight saves, with one of those coming from a penalty as he denied Vinicius Junior from 12 yards.
Mamardashvili was named man of the match and received praise from his manager, Carlos Corberan, who said: “It was an exercise in great effort and resilience,” Corberan said. “You have to do everything perfectly, but in the moments where Real Madrid outplayed us, we had Giorgi Mamardashvili, who was one of the key players in the game.”
The Valencia manager wasn’t the only one with words of praise for Mamardashvili after the game, as several Spanish journalists complimented his performance.
Diario AS‘s Luis Neto described Mamardashvili as “heroic” and “a superb goalkeeper,” saying that a stop that the 24-year-old made from Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde from point-blank range was “the save of the week.”
Football Espana‘s John Menzies wrote: “Real Madrid dominated in search for a winner (following Vinicius’ 50th-minute equalizer), but on every occasion, they were denied by strong Valencia defending and Mamardashvili, who was in inspired form – his save to deny Federico Valverde was particularly special.” Mundo Deportivo, meanwhile, said that Mamardashvili “kept Valencia alive” with his “fantastic saves.”
Madrid-based outlet Relevo published a full article about Mamardashvili’s performance. Journalist Nacho Sanchis wrote: “Not once, not twice, not three times, the Georgian goalkeeper made eight saves, and they only managed to beat him after a corner kick that he could do little to nothing about.
(Image: Alberto Gardin/NurPhoto)
“He particularly irritated Kylian Mbappe, who went home without his prized goal despite having three clear chances. He saved two powerful shots from the Frenchman’s corner and, above all, a cross-shot that he split with his legs to prevent, a goal that the Bernabéu was already celebrating.
“It was one of his best matches for Valencia, if not his best. According to Opta data, the Georgian goalkeeper conceded 3.28 expected goals on target (xGOT). That means he prevented 2.28 Real Madrid goals with his saves. He had never reached that figure in a Valencia match before. His highest figure was 2.14 in another victory against Madrid at Mestalla in May 2023.
“The performance was outstanding and was Mamardashvili’s last for Valencia at a grand venue like the Bernabeu. The goalkeeper has four vital matches left at Mestalla between now and the end of the season, but he’s out of the stadiums of LaLiga’s big three, so it was ‘Mamardash’s’ farewell to a grand venue before moving to Liverpool.”
