In the grand scheme of things Cordona’s point away at Villarreal on Sunday won’t mean much for their season. Los Califas are, barring an increasingly unlikely miracle, down. With six games to play they are eight points adrift, rooted to the foot of the table, an unwanted position they have held for 17 out of the season’s 32 weeks. They now trail Granada by five points, so will be bottom a while longer yet.
Cordoba have spent only four weeks out of the season outside the bottom three, climbing at one point as high as 14th after a Week 19 draw with Eibar. They’ve had almost as many Coaches as they have weeks out of danger and haven’t won in the second half of the season, so any bright spot needs to be celebrated and savoured, a memory to warm the cockles as they’re slugging it out in next season’s Segunda, fighting for a return to La Primera.
Juan Carlos’ display at El Madrigal deserves to go down as one of those highlights. Villarreal recorded 28 shots as they pushed, unsuccessfully for an opening goal, but the man between the posts repelled them time and again. The Yellow Submarine eventually came up short, lost ground on Sevilla – whose point at Granada went from a disappointment to a decent return – and Marcelino was left ruing what he saw.
The Coach praised Carlos, describing his performance as one of the best in La Liga this season, and the 27-year-old, formerly of Guadalajara, Rayo Vallecano and Hercules, has his moment in the sun. Having played in most of Cordoba’s League games Carlos probably needed a respite from picking the ball out the back of the net – Cordoba have conceded 51 times and only five teams have a worse record.
He and Cordoba rode their luck at times, admittedly. Villarreal twice struck the woodwork – Joel Campbell first, then Gerard Moreno – but the home side ratcheted up the pressure as the game went on. Indeed, most of Carlos’ saves came in the final 20 minutes, including two from on-loan Arsenal forward Joel Campbell. Denis Cheryshev and Victor Ruiz were also denied at various points.
Carlos received 8 out of 10 from the hard-to-please Marca, who said in their match report that Villarreal ‘ran into a wall’ in the form of the goalkeeper, and that he ‘seemed to have more than two hands.’ Cordoba were also commended for not throwing in the towel even though their return to the top flight is almost certain to end after a single season but in this instance, it was Carlos leading from the back that kept Los Blanquiverdes competitive.
Cordoba’s future may be all-but settled but if Carlos can recreate this form a few more times this season, they’ll at least go down with a struggle, rather than a whimper. Carlos himself could yet catch the eye of any team looking for a goalkeeper for next season or, should he remain at Arcangel, provide the backbone for a quick return to La Liga.
