Barcelona goalkeeper one of the frontrunners to win the Zamora Trophy | OneFootball

Joan Garcia made the brave move from Espanyol to Barcelona in the summer, fearless of the consequences such a move brought or the competition he would face at his new club.

He has, however, been aptly rewarded for all the risk he took when he signed for the club for he is now Barcelona’s undisputed starting goalkeeper and even among the league’s best in his department.

As relayed by MARCA in a recent report, Garcia’s numbers so far this season even make him one of the frontrunners to take home the Zamora Trophy which is given to the La Liga goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded per game.

The current situation

So far this season, the new Barcelona signing has conceded just nine goals in twelve La Liga appearances, placing his average at just 0.75 goals conceded per game – a staggering statistic considering how he plays behind one of the highest defensive lines in the world.

Only Villarreal’s Luiz Junior has a better record at the halfway point in the season, and he, too, has conceded the same number of goals, albeit having played one more game. Only one clean sheet, thus, separates Garcia from being the leader in the race.

In the running for the Zamora Trophy. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Thibaut Courtois and Jan Oblak currently have conceded more goals per game than the Barcelona shot-stopper and are behind in the Zamora discussion, although there is still half a season left to play.

There is, however, one condition for Garcia to be eligible for the trophy that puts him in a tricky situation.

To be eligible for the Zamora trophy, a goalkeeper must have played at least 28 games in the league, and Garcia has already missed a handful through his injury last year.

If he plays all of Barcelona’s games from this point on, he will finish with 32 appearances under his belt and be eligible. He can, thus, miss a maximum of four more games and cannot afford any further injury at this point in the season.

Barcelona’s next game will be a special one for the goalkeeper as he will lock horns with his former side, Espanyol, in what will be a heated Catalan derby, especially after his transfer saga in the summer.