“We’ve never seen anything like it and I don’t think we’ll see it again” | Relief

Retired from football in the 2022–23 season after an impressive career in goalkeeping Real Madrid, Villarreal, Sevilla, Milan and Espanyol.with 613 official matches, Diego Lopez (Lugo, 1981) He now leads a quiet life in Madrid, focusing on his family and his coaching studies. He still doesn’t know what he wants to do: try again his passion for professional football, travel, rallies and matches, or devote himself more to sports management. With gloves on, he could play almost anywhere he wanted, and without them, it was the same, because “when I decide to do something, I put in 100% effort.”

This led him to train with Real Madrid’s Galacticos, become Mourinho’s favorite instead of Iker Casillas, play for Berlusconi’s Milan or achieve international status, leading Villarreal almost to their first title… Then he Espanyol and Rayo Vallecano end their brilliant careersand at the parrot club he was dismissed with an unforgettable ovation. We talk about Madrid and Villarreal in the first part of the interview between memory and modernity.

You were a young player at Real Madrid, you were already 25 years old and you had barely played two games in the First Division… Suddenly you moved to Villarreal. I understand that Llanese will not have much difficulty convincing him. How was it?

Villarreal had a great president who gave them stability, but the figure of José Manuel was vital. My first contact was meeting him in Madrid. He went and explained it to me. What he did to me, he did to everyone. He was a visionary, able to find players anywhere, and then the coach achieved incredible results from them. Fernando (Roig) knew about this at the club.

And leave behind that Madrid Galacticos… How was it?

I started growing up in the era of Carlos Queiroz, and you surround yourself with them: you go to training, you get on the list, and at first everything is shocking. I am observant and notice things. I had to learn from a wide variety of players at any given time, from their professionalism to dressing room management… There were many leaders…

Was it scary or did you know about all the stars that were there?

When you are inside, you see it differently. Now I’ve been away for about a year, already retired, and I see it differently. At that moment I didn’t attach much importance to it, I thought it was normal, you saw yourself as one of the others. But when you leave the Bernabeu or now, you understand that everything I went through was not easy.

You went through this phase and the second one with Cristiano, Benzema… Who did you learn from the most or who influenced you the most?

It’s hard to make a choice if I start naming Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos, Raul, Guti, Beckham, Zidane, Cristiano… I tried to learn from them all. But maybe I’ll stick with all those players of lesser ability who played for Real Madrid and who knew how to make them profitable and leave great players on the bench. I think for me it was amazing, it was the best training.

And you imprisoned, for example, Iker Casillas, who had just won everything with the national team. Mourinho even publicly stated that he prefers you to himself… How do you remember this now?

I handled it well because it was a difficult moment with a lot of tension. Real Madrid is a club that weighs a lot. And you must have a strong mentality. You have to be, in quotes, somewhat lazy in order to overcome your environment, be disciplined, a perfectionist. You will be very criticized, you will be looked at through a magnifying glass, if there is an environment that opposes this and makes the situation very difficult.

How do you see the situation that Mourinho has created 11 years later?

I say this with joy: when I talk to a Madrid player who is very involved, they show me their affection for the way I was at that moment, for the way I have maintained my manners towards the club. And this makes me happy, because time has passed, and I, being older, have not seen anything beautiful and it is difficult to see again something similar to what was experienced at that moment. I learned a lot, it was a master’s degree in many aspects. I keep all the good things, I don’t keep the bad things at all. I tried to enjoy it.

But I understand that it must not have been easy. What is your relationship with Iker or Jose Mourinho now?

I left Madrid a long time ago. I recently met Iker in a restaurant and we talked, stuff happens. We have our own point of view and we don’t need to give it more importance. We experienced a lot of very good things together, and we developed a certain relationship with Jose. I’m grateful, we need to bring some normalcy to this.

There is no discussion in the goal right now. Courtois is untouchable, and for you he has been the best in the world in recent years?

For me he is the best goalkeeper I have ever seen. I wouldn’t say just the last few years… He was already very good at Atlético and Chelsea, but at Madrid he made a breakthrough, I’ve never seen anyone like him, not Buffon or Neuer, who for me were the best. and links. I think being at Real Madrid is even more difficult and what he has done is unparalleled.

Why is this the best? As a goalkeeper, you are the authoritative voice. What does he have that others don’t?

There are stops that only he can make. Because of his size, intuition, technique… We have many examples where some people don’t notice it, but we know what we’re talking about. We see shots that 99% of the time are goals, but he stops them. Of course, he has also improved some aspects of the game that make it very complete in a way that others cannot.

Why do you think Real Madrid aren’t working when the only changes are Mbappe instead of Kroos?

You have to fit in, you have to connect the pieces, these are two very important players: one who left, the other who came. The dynamics of recent years have been very good. When you’re at the top for two or three years, there’s always some kind of decline, it always happens, you don’t know why. The solution is the coach, he will find a solution, although it is difficult to find a coach like Kroos. It wasn’t given as much importance as some of the others, but it was very important. The arrival of Mbappe gives him a lot, but there are certain things that punish him, you need to control the game, and this is a great job for a coach. We don’t see the Madrid we saw last year. This is a demanding club and defeat is a drama. They have to find the essence.

Villarreal are more successful. Do you know Marcelino personally and what do you think of him now that you’re on the Coach course?

I know him, and he is very good: his statistics dictate this. Number one, very reliable, gives results, organizes teams, knows how to survive in difficult times and return to greatness in clubs. He has a certain style that he has stuck to for many years and does it well.

What attachment do you have to Villarreal, where you lived for five seasons?

It was the club that gave me the opportunity to play in the First Division. Apart from last year when we went through a once-in-50-year disaster, I played in the Champions League, I was at international level… I’m grateful. I have a feeling that if we were relegated today, I wouldn’t leave, I would continue to play in the second division, and that’s something inside me. But these are the circumstances. Playing in the second division was a step back, perhaps today I would change that and take the risk of returning to the first division.

How did he perform at Espanyol?

Yes, perhaps it was precisely this circumstance that really helped me realize this. I was at Espanyol, but the memory of that situation came back to me and the emotional level meant more to me than the professional level. Sometimes you have to lead with your heart. I was right about Espanyol and I would probably do the same for Villarreal. This has stayed with me as a Villarreal fan and with the club because I gave them a lot, I helped them achieve important things, almost a title and second place, which Girona almost achieved now. We helped the club grow significantly, and this thorn remains in my head.

In the next chapter we will talk about his years at Espanyol, Joan García, RdT and his future. However, you, who have lived so long, are a curiosity. Do you now see the behavior of the presidents of the 90s and what do you think?

Football was completely different. I think fortunately we have evolved. Back then I was more of a teenager and I remember a lot of jokes, but today all this would be surreal, there would even be problems with the law. Football was like that, it was a different way of life, the fans also understood it differently… And then another point came. In many ways it’s better, but in some ways it’s worse. But that fight, the reproaches that happened every day with the presidents… Now this is no longer there. Now there is more preparation, before there were geniuses whose personality reflected society.