Giorgi Mamardashvili experienced a nightmare evening as he conceded seven against Barcelona, with one misjudged decision leading directly to a goal.
Mamardashvili will officially arrive at Liverpool in the summer after the club agreed a deal with Valencia in advance, and he’s shown he is capable of a spectacular save or two.
On Sunday, however, he had to pick the ball out of his net on seven different occasions as Barcelona cruised to a 7-1 win – with four conceded inside just 24 minutes.
As per FotMob, the 24-year-old conceded seven from 5.52 xGOT – which measures the likelihood of an on-target shot resulting in a goal, meaning Mamardashvili let more in than expected.
He made a direct error leading to Barcelona‘s third goal, rushing out of his box and making no impact as Raphinha charged forward and finished into an empty net, at that stage making it 3-0:
Nightmare for #LFC goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili last night.
Conceded 7 at Barcelona from 5.52 xGOT, including this error leading to a goal for Raphinha.
Has to be said he’s playing in an awful Valencia team. Had been talk of a loan to Bournemouth… pic.twitter.com/uVvSN9jOG5
— Jack Lusby (@LusbyJack) January 27, 2025
Mamardashvili’s performance was rated four-out-of-10 by FotMob, with five saves boosting his score somewhat after conceding seven and completing just 12 accurate passes from an attempted 26.
Valencia are a struggling side, though, sitting second from bottom of La Liga with just three wins – they could do nothing to stop a rampant Barcelona outfit.
The result equalled their worst-ever defeat in La Liga and captain Jose Luis Gaya said post-match that “we were not up to the level of the game or the level of the shirt we represent.”
An assist and a debut
Elsewhere, Ben Doak notched his seventh assist of the season in Middlesbrough‘s 2-1 defeat to Preston over the weekend.
The Scot, who will remain at the Riverside for the remainder of the season, set up his side’s equaliser with a brilliant first-time pass under pressure into the path of Delano Burgzorg:
Ben Doak up to 10 G/A for Boro this season in the Championship. Delicious knock. pic.twitter.com/2c0am7kKfd
— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) January 25, 2025
Doak played the full 90 minutes and created two chances, the third-most for his side, though he was dispossessed on five occasions when looking to progress the ball into the danger areas.
The Northern Echo noted that “Doak forced a brilliant save out of Woodman then revved up the 5,000 away fans” but, in the end, Boro succumbed to a 78th-minute winner from Preston.
In Scotland, meanwhile, Calvin Ramsay made his debut for Kilmarnock after he was recalled from Wigan and swiftly sent back out on loan earlier this month.
He played the first 45 minutes in a 3-2 loss to Hearts before being subbed at halftime after 30 touches, four recoveries, and two successful dribbles but just two duels won from seven contested.
The substitution was tactical and his replacement, Danny Armstrong, created the assist for Kilmarnock to make it 3-2 late on. Hopefully, opportunities will still come for Ramsay!
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