Entering the game for the penalty shootout against Panathinaikos, Ruben Blanco nevertheless presents unflattering statistics in this exercise.
Tuesday, theOlympic Marseille saw his Champions League dreams shattered against Panathinaikos. Everything had started well, however, since the Olympians had caught up and had even come back ahead in the aggregate score before the break. But at the end of the match, a penalty conceded by Mattéo Guendouzi allowed the Greeks to snatch the extension, then the penalty shootout during which the French international missed his attempt, precipitating the fall of his team.
Blanco, not successful from the penalty spot
A few seconds before the final whistle, OM coach Marcelino attempted a gamble, replacing Pau Lopez with his number two Ruben Blanco, who had only saved one penalty in his career at the time, all competitions combined. https://t.co/tEkVGlHx8Z pic.twitter.com/LrmNwO5fx3
— THE TEAM (@theteam) August 16, 2023
This end of the match was also marked by Marcelino’s choice to replace Pau Lopez with Ruben Blanco just before the penalty shootout. A gamble that did not really bear fruit since number 36 failed to take out an opposing penalty. This choice raises questions all the more since Blanco is not really a fan of exercise. In his career, he has indeed stopped only one penalty out of 30 attempts, three having been hit wide by opposing shooters. According to Opta Jean, he is the goalkeeper who has conceded the most penalties (21) without stopping a single one since analyzing the competition. Figures that have enough to call into question the choice of Marcelino at the end of the match.
