Instead of making a last-minute save or stopping a decisive penalty, Provedel made a mark on the other end of the field.
On the night of his debut in the competition, goalkeeper Ivan Provedel secured his immortality in the history of the UEFA Champions League by becoming the unexpected savior of Lazio against Atletico Madrid.
Instead of making a last-minute save or stopping a decisive penalty, Provedel made a mark on the other end of the field, moving forward to score a dramatic header in favor of the Serie A team, equalizing the score with just seconds remaining in the game.
Lazio, after trailing since the 29th minute due to a goal by Pablo Barrios, was heading for a disheartening defeat playing at home in the Stadio Olimpico in their first Group E match. However, in the 94:19 minute, their goalkeeper (who wears the number 94 on his shirt, is 1.94 meters tall, and was born in 1994) leaped into the night sky to deflect a angled cross from Luis Alberto and salvage a 1-1 draw in the final action of the match. It was not the first time he scored for his team: Provedel scored in 2020 while playing in Serie B with Juve Stabia.
With his feat, Provedel also managed to join one of football's most exclusive clubs, becoming the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Champions League, and only the second to score a goal in the competition other than a penalty kick.
Next, we take a look at the three members of the Grand Order of Goal Scoring Goalkeepers in the UEFA Champions League (or "GOPGUCL" for short) and how they earned their place in this exclusive group.
Vincent Enyeama
Before Provedel's heroic feat, Enyeama was the most recent addition to the club when the former captain of the Nigeria national team scored from the penalty spot for Hapoel Tel-Aviv in their clash against Lyon in 2010. Enyeama became Hapoel's main penalty taker in the 2008-09 season and went on to score several goals for the Israeli club, including one in the State Cup final in 2009-10. He repeated the feat in the Champions League, first with a successful conversion against FC Salzburg in the qualifying round and then another penalty against Lyon in the group stage... even though it didn't help prevent a 3-1 defeat.
Sinan Bolat
The second member of the GOPGUCL joined the club in 2009 when the Turkish international goalkeeper for Standard Liege scored in his team's 1-1 draw against AZ Alkmaar. While he wasn't the first goalkeeper to score, Bolat was the first to score a goal other than a penalty in the competition. He scored a beautiful header in the 95th minute that secured the draw for the Belgian club, qualifying them for the knockout stages of the Europa League at the expense of AZ, who finished last in Group H and were completely eliminated from European competitions.
Hans-Jörg Butt
In short, Butt is one of the most prolific scoring goalkeepers to have graced a football pitch. The former German international scored 32 goals in his career across all competitions, an impressive tally that places him in the top 10 all-time. Butt holds the record for most goals scored by a goalkeeper in a European professional league (26 goals in the Bundesliga) and the most goals scored by a goalkeeper in the Champions League, with three to his name.
Interestingly, all three penalties converted by Butt in the Champions League were scored for different clubs but against the same opponent on each occasion: Juventus. Butt's first goal came for Hamburger SV in a thrilling 4-4 draw against Juve in the first group stage match of the 2000-01 edition of the Champions League. His second goal contributed to Bayer Leverkusen's surprising run to the final in the 2001-02 campaign, opening the scoring in a 3-1 victory over Juve in the second group stage match.
Butt had to wait six years to score his third goal, specifically the first goal for Bayern Munich in a crucial come-from-behind 3-1 win against the Bianconeri that sealed the club's qualification for the knockout stages of the competition.