He made nine saves against Atalanta and a total of 152 in the season just gone: according to Opta data, Guglielmo Vicario was the best Italian performer on the final matchday in Serie A. Over the course of the campaign, the 25-year-old shot-stopper was a key player for Andreazzoli’s Empoli, and he put in yet another excellent performance on Saturday evening. Against Atalanta, who were hoping to qualify for the Conference League, he refused to be beaten. He produced nine stops in total, denying the lively Duvan Zapata a total of five times. Vicario is a very solid figure between the sticks, as he very much proved against Salernitana and La Dea in the final two matchdays.

During the weekend just gone, only Daniele Padelli (11) made more saves than Vicario, who was able to keep his seventh clean sheet of the 2021/22 Serie A campaign. It was a season that saw him set a club record in terms of saves (152), beating Skorupski’s tally of 144 in 2016/17. His game isn’t just about keeping out shots, either: at the Gewiss Stadium, he had 62 touches (at least three more than any other teammate), thus making a significant contribution to Empoli’s build-up play.

Match stats against Atalanta

Saves: 9

Clearances: 3

Opposition shots on target: 11

Touches: 62