Incredible! Player who left Benfica for free named best in Italy | OneFootball

Mile Svilar is experiencing a true redemption in Italian football. Roma’s goalkeeper was once again voted the best keeper in Serie A and played a decisive role in the Roman club’s return to the Champions League, seven years later.

In the 2-0 win over Verona, the former Benfica player produced a decisive save while the score was still level, in the 40th minute, in a move that received huge attention in the Italian press. The Leggo.it website even described the save as "a 60-million save made at a decisive moment not only in the championship, but in Roma’s entire recent history", while Tuttosport highlighted the goalkeeper’s superb intervention to deny the opposition a goal.

The moment stands in total contrast to the image left by his Champions League debut in 2017, when Svilar became associated with the mistake against Manchester United at the Estádio da Luz, as he carried the ball over his own goal line in a move that ended up marking the beginning of his European adventure.

At the time, José Mourinho, manager of the English side, came to the young keeper’s defense. "The kid is a phenomenon. I prefer a goalkeeper like this to one who spends the full 90 minutes standing on his goal line. Everything he did was good and he "ate" this goal, but maybe he won’t "eat" another one like it," he said at the time.

After leaving Benfica in 2022 to join Roma, Mile Svilar reunited with Mourinho in Italy and ultimately truly flourished. At 26, he finished the season having conceded just 31 goals in 38 matches, with 18 clean sheets and an impressive 77% save rate.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.