Why Real Madrid's Andriy Lunin Won’t Win Golden Glove Even if He Keeps Most Clean Sheets in La Liga

• Andriy Lunin has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga this season
• The Ukrainian shot-stopper has managed to wrest the top position from Kepa Arrizabalaga
• As Sports Brief explains, Lunin will be 'barred' from vying for a prestigious individual award

Andriy Lunin picked up another clean sheet as Real Madrid beat Mallorca 1-0 on April 13 to maintain their charge for the La Liga title.

Aurélien Tchouaméni scored the game's only goal from way out three minutes after the restart. Lunin faced two shots on target from the beaten Copa Del Rey finalists.

Andriy Lunin's 2023/2024 season at Real Madrid

The Ukrainian goalkeeper rose to prominence rapidly this season following a long-term injury to number-one choice Thibaut Courtois.

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The Belgian tore his Achilles before the start of the season, and just as he was about to return last month, he suffered a relapse in training and will now miss the whole season.

Club president, Florentino Perez, moved for Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, on loan, who was promoted to first-choice goalkeeper by Carlo Ancelotti.

Lunin started the first two games of the season before Arrizabalaga took over. The most expensive goalkeeper played the next 10 games until November 11.

The Ukrainian then played the next four games in the league before alternating with Arrizabalaga for the next three.

The 25-year-old, however, made the position his own on January 27. He has started every game for Los Blancos in all competitions since and performed well while at it.

Why Lunin can't be La Liga's best goalkeeper

The shut-out at Mallorca saw him record his 10th clean sheet of the season, which puts him in the top five of the goalkeepers with the most clean sheets in La Liga this season, as captured by Squakwa. Atletico Bilbao's Unai Simon leads the fray with 15.

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With at least seven more rounds of fixtures left to play, Lunin is still in the conversation to finish the season with the most clean sheets. But, here's the catch - even if he were to bridge the gap between him and Simon and beat Spain's number one in terms of clean sheets, he wouldn't win the best goalkeeper award in La Liga.

Criteria for awarding Ricardo Zamora trophy

The award, known as the Zamora trophy, is not given to the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets in the league, as it is in the English Premier League. Instead, the goalkeeper with the lowest ratio of goals conceded per match wins the award.

But even with that explanation, the rules further dictate that a goalkeeper has to play at least 28 games in the 38-game season and that he has to feature for at least 60 minutes in each of those 28 games, as explained on Sevilla's website.

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This knocks out Lunin of the race because, even if he were to play all of the remaining matches, he can only reach a maximum of 26 games.

Real Madrid have conceded the least number of goals in La Liga, and Lunin would be a favourite to win the award were it not for the above rules.

Barcelona's special kit for El Classico

Sports Brief also previously reported on Barcelona unveiling a special kit they will wear in El Clasico against Real Madrid on April 21.

Xavi Hernandez's side will travel to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium for the title decider, with the Catalans trailing their rivals by eight points.