'Casillas the best goalkeeper in Spanish football history'

Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas is the best goalkeeper in the history of Spanish football, according to Atletico Madrid's Miguel Moya. Casillas' last two years have been turbulent on the pitch, as he first lost the No.1 spot during Jose Mourinho's final season to Diego Lopez before making several high-profile mistakes as Spain crashed out of World Cup 2014 at the group stage. However, he is once again the first-choice shot-stopper at the Santiago Bernabeu and his expected opposite number in Saturday's Madrid derby, Moya, claims Casillas has no match between the sticks in La Liga's history. "This is the high point of my career, particularly to be playing against Iker," the Atletico goalkeeper, 30, told reporters. "I remember when I first started aged 20. Casillas was also young at 23, but he had already played in the top flight five years. He was a goalkeeper to look up to. Furthermore, he is the best goalkeeper in the history of Spanish football. "When you play for a team like Real Madrid you are always exposed to pressure and comments, yet Iker has been there many years and knows how to handle that. When things are going well it's very nice, but when things don't go well even the small details are made into a big story, sometimes when there is none. "Last year with Diego Lopez it was a case of the Real Madrid coach having two goalkeepers of the highest level, so he had to decide between them and that's all there is to it." Moya suspects the match will be a tight affair, just as it was when Atletico held the reigning European champions to a draw at the Santiago Bernabeu last month in the Supercopa. "We all know that anything can happen but I'm expecting something similar to the 1-1 draw in the first leg of the Supercopa, where Madrid took the initiative from the start and we had to curb their goalscoring opportunities," he added. "Madrid have players that finish very well, yet we are also a very dangerous team in attack. If the game goes as it did in that first leg, with not many chances in general, it could be decided as it was that day, when Raul Garcia scored from a corner. "Hence, strategy is going to be very important this weekend." Friday September 12 marks the 15-year anniversary of Casillas' debut for Real Madrid and he has played 683 competitive games for the club since then, leaving him third in the Blancos' all-time list.

Source: goal