Leo Roman breaks record of La Liga saves of the season against Barcelona

Mallorca went back home defeated. But they could have left Barcelona brutally thrashed. It was not so because Leo Roman, in a great personal display, made up to 12 saves that made his game almost a miracle. And it is no wonder: no one had made so many in this 24-25 campaign. 

Joan Garcia was the previous best. He made 11 saves in his glorious match against Real Madrid (despite the 4-1 final score), and 10 against Betis, against whom he even saved a penalty. Now, the Balearic goalkeeper, to whom Jagoba Arrasate returned to the starting lineup due to his habit of rotating in midweek matches, has set a new ceiling that will be difficult to surpass in the remaining matches.

Such an outstanding performance had not been seen since the 22-23 season, when Fernando, on the opening day of the championship, prevented up to 14 Real Madrid goals for Almeria. Like Leo Roman, he was also unable to prevent his team's defeat (1-2). Curiously, it was the day he made his debut in La Liga despite being 32 years old. 

The case of the Bermellon goalkeeper was very reminiscent of that of Aitor Fernandez with Levante in the 20-21 campaign, when he also pulled off a dozen saves for his team to end up losing 1-0 at the Camp Nou. 

David Soria also made 12 saves at the Bernabeu. It was at the beginning of last season, when he saved almost everything until Jude Bellingham's stoppage-time winner.