Goalkeeper Andriy Lunin earned recognition thanks to the length of his stay at the club.

Andriy Lunin played his second match under the guidance of Xabi Alonso and started in Real’s lineup for the Copa del Rey game against Talavera. Special attention was drawn to the Ukrainian’s captain’s armband, which he received even in the presence of stars like Kylian Mbappé.

In Real, the captain is determined by club tradition: the armband goes to the one who has spent the most consecutive (!) seasons in the adult team. For this campaign, the official captains are Dani Carvajal, Federico Valverde, Thibaut Courtois, and Vinícius Júnior, but it was Lunin, as the main veteran of the lineup selected by Xabi Alonso, who led the team on the field.

An interesting detail with Dani Ceballos – he joined the club earlier than Lunin, but spent two years on loan, so Andriy’s continuous presence in the team made him captain. At the 66th minute, the armband had to be handed over to Rodrygo, who has spent more consecutive seasons at Real.

On the field, Lunin kept a clean sheet until the 80th minute, after which Real conceded twice, but still won 3:2.