Everyone knew they had witnessed the save of the year.
Statistically, with an xGOT of 0.91, 91 times out of 100, that shot would have rocketed into the net. That ratio would imply that it would be saved 9% of the time, but for those present inside the Estadio Montilivi, 9% felt more like 0%.
That's simply what Jan Oblak does, though. Make the impossible, possible.
Koke had given Atletico Madrid a 1-0 lead away to Girona with an absolute howitzer from range in the 13th minute. Diego Simeone's side, however, had only earned 24 points away from home in the entirety of 2025 - the lowest total in the Argentinian manager's career. Ergo, 1-0 was no guarantee.
So, when Giuliano Simeone tripped Alex Moreno down Girona's left in the 22nd minute, he anxiously glanced towards the sidelines, where his father was filing away a rollicking to be delivered at half-time. Girona had the players to hurt Atleti from a set-piece as well.
Up stepped Viktor Tsigankov, who teased in a low cross with his left foot into the box. Fellow Ukrainian, Vladyslav Vanat, used his hefty frame to bulldoze his way towards the ball, but could only get a touch that ricocheted into the path of Vitor Reis. The Brazilian centre-back could only hack a touch square in the box, where the ball bounced agonizingly past multiple players and trickled towards Alex Witsel in space on the far side of the box.
1-1.... It had to be.
Witsel did everything right - he refrained from leaning back, connected first time with the ball using his left foot. It was as sweet a strike as they come. The ball flew past Marcos Llorente attempting to make a last-ditch block and even flew past Oblak.
Que?!
Indeed, Witsel's strike had gone behind Oblak, only for the Slovenian to stick an arm out and claw it off the line, in mid-air. It defied physics, because aside from the reflexes involved to make such a save, the sheer arm-strength that Oblak needed to possess to stop the ball dead in the air and heave it back away from goal seemed impossible... and yet, the reality was that Llorente cleared the ball after Oblak's save and Atletico's lead remained intact.
JAN OBLAK ��
WHAT. A. SAVE. ��#LALIGAHighlights pic.twitter.com/tckbJ2Aswf
- Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 21, 2025
The commentators were left speechless, some in the Girona stands had even begun celebrating. Slow the replays down enough, and one could even see Witsel beginning to wheel away in celebration before being stopped cold in his tracks by Oblak's save. Most of Girona's players had their arms up in half-celebration, before adjusting to the reality of the save. Reis, meanwhile, was convinced that the ball had crossed the line and after a momentary pause, ran towards the referee in utter certainty that Girona had scored an equalizer. No dice.
It felt like the entire ground had to do a double-take, because a certain goal had just been prevented. Another Jan Oblak special.
The Slovenian keeper wasn't done yet - after Atleti scored their second via Conor Gallagher in the 38th minute, Girona remained a threat on the counter. A revival almost happened in the 73rd minute, when Daley Blind slipped Moreno through on goal with a perfectly weighted pass, only for Oblak to make a 1-on-1 save. Meat and drink for the Slovenian.
What would have been a man-of-the-match performance for any other keeper in the world was just another day in the office for Oblak, who's made clean sheets his specialty. Six Zamora trophies aside (for most clean sheets every season), Oblak now possesses a stunning LaLiga record, having kept clean sheets in 46.9% of the league games he's featured in. No other keeper in LaLiga's 96-year history has a better percentage.
One would bet no other keeper would have made that save as well. Quite simply, that is just what Jan Oblak does.