Jan Oblak at Atlético: evolving form, evolving style, enduring impact

Over the past decade, Atlético de Madrid has repeatedly relied on Jan Oblak. He joined the club in 2014, stepping in as a replacement for a player who left that summer after three excellent years on loan at the Vicente Calderón. As a substitute early in that season, Miguel Ángel Moyá handed the gloves to the Slovenian keeper, and Oblak quickly became a defining presence, making a Real Madrid legend in goal feel distant and less relevant today.

Since Atlético’s visit to Celtic in the Champions League (kick-off time noted for context), Oblak has etched his name into both the club’s history and Spanish football lore. With five Zamora trophies, he has established a benchmark that rivals the all-time greats like Antoni Ramallets and Victor Valdés. The claim has strong national roots, even as it remains firmly tied to Slovenian achievement and a club legend that endures.

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Performance against Las Palmas

All this helps explain why Oblak may not be at his best today. Emotions aside, which is a subjective read, it is difficult to deny his performance in the recent defeat to UD Las Palmas on Friday. It isn’t fair to claim he could not do more, yet the numbers invite scrutiny. They are not disastrously bad, but they reveal a goalkeeper facing unusually high scrutiny for excellence by world standards.

Oblak during Osasuna-Atlético. EFE

To put this season in context, Atlético has conceded 16 goals in 14 matches, with 11 in LaLiga (one postponed match against Sevilla) and three in the Champions League. That equates to about 1.16 goals per game. Among regular starters, only a few goalkeepers—Kepa, Bravo, Álvaro Vallés, and Mamardashvili—show better defensive records in Spanish football. Yet Oblak’s numbers mark his weakest stretch since joining the club.

Only in the 2021-22 season, when he allowed 1.12 goals per game, does his current rate come close to the figures he has posted. Across the rest of the campaign, goals conceded per match stayed below 0.82. Today, Oblak concedes roughly half a goal more per 90 minutes than his career average.

Fewer clean sheets than usual

This dip shows up in the clean-sheet rate as well. The season’s mark stands at 28.6 percent (4 clean sheets in 14 games). His worst rate previously was 31.4 percent, while in Madrid his first five seasons he kept a clean sheet in more than half of his matches.

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Several factors explain these numbers, but one stands out: Oblak has been under pressure more than ever. The Slovenian saved or redirected 39 of 54 shots on target in the season’s opening phase, a rate around 70 percent. The 21-22 peak remains the benchmark, and in recent campaigns the rate has hovered around 69 percent.

Conceded more goals than necessary

Advanced statistics from FBref, drawing on Opta data, suggest Oblak could have conceded about 13.7 goals given shot quality. In other words, roughly 2.3 more goals than expected were allowed by his actions. This points to external factors beyond the goalkeeper alone.

Oblak gets a chance from Leverkusen in the last Champions League game. Reuters

Atlético’s playing style has shifted in recent months toward a more expressive and bold approach. The team moves away from the robustness that defined earlier seasons under Simeone, embracing more initiative on the ball and longer build-ups from the back. Oblak has adapted, now delivering more passes with his feet than ever before. His pass completion has climbed to about 75.6 percent, a notable rise from the earlier ceiling, while the total number of passes per game sits around 17, a jump from previous seasons.

The narrative is simple: Oblak is a superb shot-stopper who is also evolving into a proactive, modern goalkeeper. As he approaches his 31st birthday in January, some fans may find the winds of change challenging, but Oblak continues to be indispensable to Simeone and the red-and-white faithful who have watched him claim the number one spot since Moyá handed over the gloves nearly a decade ago.