Opinion: Alisson takes chance to underline his potential

Despite the overall performance from Roma being a little lacklustre in the second leg of their Europa League tie with Villarreal, goalkeeper Alisson Becker's heroics between the sticks ensured the Giallorossi only lost 1-0; enough to send them through to the next round 4-1 on aggregate.

In what was undoubtedly a man-of-the-match display from the Brazilian international, he exuded calmness, authority and intelligence in everything he did. To start with, his astute positional sense gave him a good basis to make a number of key saves from the likes of Roberto Soriano – many of which seemed to be heading for the top corner.

With his sharp reflexes, explosive lateral movements and impressive command of his area, it's easy to see why the Yellow Submarines only managed to score one goal on the night – and over the course of the tie. Indeed, his tally of six saves - that mostly included outstanding, athletic stops - served as a glowing testament as to what an asset he is to Luciano Spalletti's side.

Although Wojciech Szczesny has been the No. 1 for Roma in Serie A matches this season, Alisson's form in the cup competitions in his rookie season in Italy has given him the opportunity to not only settle in smoothly, without being thrown in at the deep end, but also gain some vital and regular first-team opportunities in highly competitive fixtures.

Having the luxury of possessing two hugely talented goalkeepers can often be a problem for many teams but, with this approach, Spalletti has devised a formula that ensures both men have the opportunity to develop and progress.

When speaking after the match, the former Internacional No. 1 spoke of his excellent relationship with Szczesny and how this has been extremely beneficial in regards to spurring each other on to continue improving.

"The competition for places with Szczesny gets the best out of both of us," he explained. "We're two top keepers and we work as hard as we can on a daily basis. He, like me, wants to keep improving, which is why we work, day in, day out with the goalkeeper coach to be on top form come matchday.

"We've both played well when called upon. A team like Roma must have two top keepers because we're involved in the Coppa Italia and Europa League as well as Serie A."

He then went onto give an insight into what a harsh critic he is of himself, despite his supreme showing, saying: "What matters to me is always playing well. I'm not happy tonight because I didn't secure a clean sheet. Our aim is to always keep things tight at the back. However, we're through and that's what matters."

With four clean sheets to his name already in this campaign, Alisson has generally made the most of his opportunities. While Thursday’s game was something of a limp affair for most of the Roma players, for Alisson it became a platform to really underline his quality.

It was a great example of the 24-year-old's tremendous capabilities.