After Erling Haaland added two more strikes to his burgeoning Manchester City collection in last week’s 5-0 Champions League thumping of Copenhagen, opposition goalkeeper Kamil Grabara was left wondering if the irrepressible goal-machine had not been beamed down from outer space to turn our beautiful game into his own personal plaything.
“He’s not human!,” Grabara quipped.
One week later, with Haaland enjoying a well-earned rest, it was Grabara who had many observers pinching themselves and wondering whether he had divine intervention on his side.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Kamil Grabara shines vs Manchester City
“He made an incredible performance,” City boss Pep Guardiola said after the once-capped Poland international picked up where he left off at the Etihad; saving a Riyad Mahrez penalty en route to a deserved clean sheet in the Danish capital.
“I don’t know if it was because of the mask or something!”
Liverpool fans could be forgiven for not recognising Grabara; the 23-year-old keeping City’s Haaland-less frontline at arms’ length on Tuesday night. And not just because of the mask he wore following a recent facial injury.
Grabara was a regular in Liverpool’s U18 and U21 sides before departing in a £3 million deal just last year. How much is the former Anfield youngster worth now; a Danish Superliga title and two virtuoso performances against arguably the best football side on planet earth under his belt? A damn sight more, is our guess.
Across the two games, Grabara made a staggering 16 saves. That 5-0 scoreline in Manchester would have been a lot more lopsided, too, without his giant frame and feline reflexes. You could make a case for him being the best player on the pitch in both games.
That loan spell at Huddersfield Town certainly feels like a long time ago now.
‘Absolutely outstanding’
“He was absolutely outstanding today,” former Manchester United ‘keeper Mark Bosnich told Australian publication Stan Sport.
Even Manchester City’s official website had a couple of kind words to say about a man who, like fellow Champions League custodian Peter Gulacsi, left Liverpool having never made a first-team appearance for the Merseyside giants.
“Kamil Grabara has had two excellent games against City,” they wrote. “And looks a real talent.”
At least someone associated with Liverpool is having a 2022/23 to remember.
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