Sergio Asenjo injury creates goalkeeping battle at Villarreal

Sergio Asenjo injury creates goalkeeping battle at Villarreal [VIDEO]

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Sergio Asenjo began 2014-15 season as the first choice goalkeeper for Villarreal, but an injury suffered against his former side Atletico Madrid will see him sidelined until Christmas.

In his absence, the Yellow Submarine have secured Alphonse Areola, on loan from PSG, and Mariano Barbosa, from Sevilla, to watch over the goal in his absence.

Areola, a French youth international, has spent the past two seasons out on loan from the Parisian club and will be looking to improve his already impressive resume. Playing last season for Ligue 1 side Bastia, the 22-year-old appeared 35 times, keeping 11 clean sheets. In the league, he conceded 42 goals at an average of 1.2 goals per game.

Areola will be looking to improve on those numbers and will see playing behind a defence which last season only conceded 37 times as his advantage. He has proven over the past two seasons that he can step up his game as the level of the opposition increases. Areola spent the 2013-14 season in Ligue 2 for Lens and seamlessly stepped up his game into Ligue 1 with Bastia. He will be looking to maintain this trajectory as he again moves up a level to play in a Villarreal team pushing for a European place.

Starting the season as second choice will be Mariano Barbosa, a man familiar with the Villarreal faithful. The 2015-16 season will mark Barbosa’s return to El Madrigal after eight years away. The thirty-year-old from Argentina’s first spell with the club may not be looked back on with the fondest of memories having served as backup for most of his time. He did, however, appear in the semi-finals of the Champions League, which Villarreal lost 1-0 over two legs to Arsenal.

He returns following spells in his native Argentina, Mexico, and in the Segunda Division with Las Palmas. After four successful campaigns with the Canary Island club, he moved to Sevilla last season but only appeared twice in the league, conceding a goal in each game. He will be hoping to revive his form from the previous four campaigns where he appeared 162 times.

Upon his return from injury, due to be around December/January, incumbent number one Asenjo will be looking to usurp the job between the posts from his French and Argentine teammates.

Despite another devastating injury, the 2014-15 season will be one looked back on fondly by Sergio Asenjo. The former Spanish youth international and Europa League winner with Atletico Madrid moved to Villarreal originally on loan in 2013 before making the permanent switch prior to last season. He had a torrid time at Atleti with injuries halting his progress meaning he had to play backup to David De Gea, and then Thibaut Courtois.

With a clean bill of health, Asenjo has finally started to live up to his talents. Playing the first 34 league matches before injury struck, Asenjo was one of La Liga’s stand out goalkeepers last campaign, conceding only 31 goals at an average of 0.9 per game and keeping 15 clean sheets. He also made an average of 2.32 saves per game, meaning he made more saves than Areola, who averaged 1.71.

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While time will tell whether Asenjo will return to last season’s best he has bounced back from adversity before. After injury struck earlier in his career, Asenjo took a back seat to Courtois at Atleti. Without getting the required game time he struck a deal to move to Villarreal on loan for the 2013-14 season. During that season, he would play 35 matches and keep nine clean sheets.

With a history of recovering from struggles, it would come as no surprise to see Asenjo recover from his injury to reclaim his starting position. By the time he is ready to play however Areola will likely have played at least 16 matches for the Yellow Submarine and will not be too willing to give up his spot.

Once Asenjo is fully healthy look for the battle to be Villarreal’s number one to be one of the biggest talking points of this La Liga season.

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