Kepa set for home debut with Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabéu

Kepa will play at the Santiago Bernabéu for the first time as a Real Madrid player on Saturday. After making his debut last Friday against Celta, the 28-year-old from Ondarroa will play his first home game against Getafe. Curiously, he will be presented with the number 25 on his back, the same that Thibaut Courtois wore on his debut five years ago.

The goalkeeper, who came through the Athletic Club youth academy, made his debut with Madrid at Balaídos. He had a scare right at the start of the match with Jorgen Strand Larsen’s goal, but it was later disallowed by VAR for a grab by the Norwegian. He went on to make three saves to keep the home side out.

Representing Spain

It won’t be Kepa’s first time playing at the Bernabéu nor will he be a stranger to defending the home goal. He did it wearing the Spain jersey in one of his 13 caps for the national team. It was in June 2019, in a qualifying match against Sweden for the European Championship (goals from Ramos, Morata and Oyarzabal). He has played once at Madrid’s home ground with Athletic and once with Chelsea.

Champions League defeat

He visited for the first time in April 2018 in a LaLiga match just four months after Zinedine Zidane had put the brakes on his move to Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 87th to make it 1-1. In April he defended Chelsea’s goal in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals. Karim Benzema and Marco Asensio scored in the 2-0 win for Los Blancos.