Diego Alves ’s penalty save against Deportivo La Coruña was his fifth of the campaign, more than any other goalkeeper in LaLiga and continuing his outstanding record from 12 yards. The feat had not been achieved since Pepe Reina also stopped five for Villarreal in 2003/04, and –going further back- former Valencia CF goalkeeper José Luis Manzanedo in the 1986/87 season for Sabadell.





Some 50 penalties have been faced by the Brazilian since he arrived in Spain with Almeria. Of those, he has kept out some 24 which, added to Joan Verdú’s shot against the bar (for Deportivo) and a strike wide by Atletico Madrid’s Diego Forlán, take him to a success rate of above 50%.





His figure for Valencia CF, whom he joined in 2011, is 11 in LaLiga, 1 in the Champions League, 1 in the Europa League and 1 in the Copa del Rey.





Fayçal Fajr, whose spot kick was saved this past Sunday, joins a list that includes Freddie Kanouté, Diego Forlán, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa, Antoine Griezmann, Ivan Rakitic, Gabi, Carlos Vela, Carlos Bacca, Lionel Messi, Mario Mandzukic and two players who are currently his teammates: Fabián Orellana and Guilherme Siqueira







With 21 penalties saved in LaLiga, Alves is by far the top stopper of all time in the top flight. The previous record was held by Andoni Zubizarreta, with 16.