The season's goalscoring goalkeepers in LaLiga

The regular LaLiga 2020/21 season has drawn to a close, although it is not all decided yet, with the final revelation still to come: the winner of the play-off final for promotion to LaLiga Santander.

Some of the stars of the season have been the top goalscorers and assist providers. In addition to the efforts of all of the other players who contribute to a team's performance, the role of goalkeepers is also fundamental when it comes to securing the points which decide the order of the table come the end of the campaign.

Leo Messi, with 30 goals, is the top scorer in LaLiga Santander, followed by Gerard Moreno and Karim Benzema on 23 apiece and Luis Suarez on 21. Youssef En-Nesyri completes the top five most prolific goalscorers with a haul of 19.

In LaLiga SmartBank meanwhile, Raul de Tomas netted 23 goals this season, catapulting him to the top of the goalscoring charts in the silver tier. Uros Djurdjevic and Umar Sadiq, with 22 and 20 goals respectively, complete the podium. Ruben Castro and Javi Puado make up the remaining positions in the top five, on 19 and 12 goals.

These goal machines have been joined by a select group who are normally spectators in this department, but have taken up the mantle and gone from being the men in charge of stopping the ball from going in to donning the proverbial number-9 shirt.

Marko Dmitrovic and Yassine Bounou in LaLiga Santander and Cristian Alvarez in LaLiga SmartBank are the goalkeepers who have scored this season

Marko Dmitrovic  

Dmitrovic finishes his fourth season as the SD Eibar shot-stopper, having played 35 matches and starting every one. He went nine games without conceding and made more than 80 saves, playing an essential role for Los Armeros.

Eibar's Serbian keeper put his gloves to one side on LaLiga Santander Matchday 19 which pitted his side against Atletico Madrid, donning a striker's boots to score a superb goal.

He took the bull by its horns, placed the ball on the spot and fired home from 12 yards – a rocket straight down the middle – after unnerving Jan Oblak. Unfortunately, his goal would not be enough to claim victory, with Luis Suarez netting a brace – one from the spot – to take the three points on offer. The match will provide some bittersweet memories for the Serbian shot-stopper, who notched his first ever goal in LaLiga Santander.

Yassine Bounou 'Bono'   

The Moroccan keeper has completed his second season at Sevilla FC with a total of 80 saves and one goal to the good. He managed to keep out two penalties and made the starting lineup in all 33 games which he played, keeping clean sheets in 16 of them. He has undoubtedly been one of the architects behind Sevilla finishing third in the ranking of the sides to concede the fewest goals in the division, with just 33 against.

 In addition to coming to his teammates' salvation with some magnificent saves, such as the umpteenth one on Matchday 29 against Atletico which helped secure a vital win, Bono made his goalscoring debut against Real Valladolid on their home turf, equalising in the 94th minute. The Sevilla shot-stopper ventured upfield for the final corner of the game and fired the ball into the back of the net to draw things level and snatch a point in injury time.

Cristian Alvarez  

The Real Zaragoza goalie played 3,330 minutes in a total of 37 games over the course of the season, starting in all of them. In his fourth campaign keeping goal for the club, the Argentine produced close to a hundred saves, making him the LaLiga SmartBank keeper who made the most stops this term. In addition to making a key contribution to his side's 16-game unbeaten run, he stole the limelight in the match against CD Lugo at the Anxo Carro, burying the ball in the back of the net at the death.

The scoreline stood at 2-1 at the end of regular time with CD Lugo in the driving seat. Manu Barreiro and Ferrão Venancio had netted for the home side, while Adrian had scored for Zaragoza. Cristian Rodriguez ditched his gloves and produced some heroics to rescue his side, making it 2-2 at the final whistle. The move played out as follows: Sergio Bermejo took a free-kick on the left flank and, having joined in the attack, the Real Zaragoza keeper rose to head the ball past Alberto Varo and salvage a point in the 97th minute.

These goalies ignored the number on their backs and gave their all to get the business done at the other end and secure the three points for their team. Tireless players who swap penalty boxes in the dying stages of the game and try to fire in the ball they spend the rest of their lives trying to keep out. It is no coincidence that two of the goals scored by LaLiga keepers this season came in this fashion: set pieces in injury time which breathed life back into teams in desperate need of more firepower up front.

They are players who celebrate the goals scored by their teammates with the fans and on social media; who fend off their opponents' attacks and send themselves flying to make impossible stops, preventing the ball from creeping inside the post. They are players with the nerve to leave their goalmouth unattended if they have to go up for the final kick of the game and who suffer the bitter disappointment of diving the wrong way when defending a penalty kick. But they are also brave, as we have seen this season, taking over the number-9 duties and getting a taste of what it feels like to bury the ball in the back of their opponents' net.

These three are not the only goalscoring goalkeepers in the history of the competition: those who have achieved the feat before include Aranzubia and Toni Prats. Relive some of the goals netted by keepers by clicking on the following link.