Opinion: Pau Lopez chooses key moment to deliver finest display

Producing arguably his finest performance in a Roma jersey to date, Pau Lopez's contribution towards the Giallorossi's incredible 2-1 away win over Ajax in the first leg of their Europa League quarter final was unmistakable.

On a night where Ajax unleashed 15 shots and enjoyed 64.8% of possession, Lopez certainly had his work cut out. And despite being under frequent pressure in a variety of situations, he relished the challenge that confronted him. Remaining concentrated and showing fantastic anticipation, the Spaniard executed his actions with aplomb throughout his outstanding display.

Making a remarkable eight saves, six of which were from shots inside the box, Lopez was right on top of his game to constantly deny the home side. Undoubtedly, however, his save to keep out Dusan Tadic's penalty was his standout moment, for he'd clearly done his due diligence, with him staying central to make a crucial save.

Lopez duly noted this after the match, citing how his pre game analysis paid off, explaining: "I knew that Tadic often hits it centrally. I watch the penalties with Marco Savorani when we prepare for the games. I stayed on the spot and I was lucky this time.

He then added: "That save changed the dynamics of the match. I think we did well, although the goal we conceded was avoidable. I am happy with the victory, but it’s not over. The second leg will be very tough and there’s a long way to go yet.”

His masterful save to repel Brian Brobbey was another huge highlight, where he rapidly rushed off his line and got down sharply to deny the youngster in a 1v1 scenario.

Showing great acceleration, reading of the play, bravery and predicting what his opponent would do, this passage was crucial towards keeping the scores level at the time.

Other notable saves arose his sharp reflex saves to deny Antony twice from close range in each half and when he again kept out the Brazilian's 79th minute volley by springing upwards to tip the shot over the bar.

In crossing and set piece situations, the 26-year-old acquiting himself soundly here as well, doing a tidy job of commanding his area to either claim deliveries or punch clear.

The fact he had an expected conceded goals reading of 2.98 and only let in one goal demonstrated what a formidable presence he was in between posts (as shown by his save map below).

Meanwhile, in terms of his passing, he demonstrated what an asset his distribution can be for Roma.

After making a shaky start by misplacing some passes, he recovered nicely to help his team build out from the back and strike some lovely long passes.

To focus on the latter, and his accurate aerial balls were key for Roma in beating the press by either finding the wingbacks or pinpointing Edin Dzeko to help Roma win second balls higher up the pitch.

In what was an assured, Man of the Match outing by the Spanish shot stopper, he entirely vindicated Paulo Fonseca's decision to keep faith in him when he was going through some challenging patches.

Having improved his level in recent weeks, this tremendous body of work will boost his confidence even further heading into the closing stages of the campaign.