Pau Lopez explains how he pulled off Deulofeu stop

The Giallorossi ran out 3-0 winners in the end - although a brilliant one-on-one stop from the goalkeeper with the scoreline still at 2-0 ensured it was a more comfortable closing 20 minutes than it might otherwise have been.

Speaking after the game, the Spaniard explained that he was always confident he knew what Udinese forward Gerard Deulofeu was going to try to do.

“The save on Deulofeu? I was off my line, so when he got the ball I dropped back slightly," Lopez said.

"I expected him to do that, I know how he plays – I’ve known him for a long time, since we played together for Spain Under-21s.

"I knew that he would probably try to dribble around me, so I stopped and waited for his move before making the intervention.”

Speaking about the game as a whole, Lopez was pleased with the three points - and the clean sheet too.

“We played really well today, especially in the first half," the goalkeeper added.

"Perhaps in the second we found things a bit tougher, but we got the win. The three points were the main thing today."

He added: “Scoring early in any game makes things easier, especially when it comes to managing the game. For us it was important to get ahead as soon as possible, otherwise things could have got more complicated once the defence finds a way to dig in.”