Andriy Lunin, behind the shining goalkeeper, a man committed to Ukraine

Starting in the Real Madrid cages this season in the absence of Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin has had a winding journey to the very highest level and is now preparing to experience a Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern.

At 25, Andriy Lunin is undoubtedly experiencing the best season of his life. Or rather the first full season of his career at the high level. And this, despite a mind occupied by the war in his country. The Ukrainian goalkeeper experienced many pitfalls before being able to assert himself as the starting goalkeeper of Real Madrid. A takeoff well helped by the two successive injuries to Thibaut Courtois at the knees and the poor form of Kepa Arrizabalaga, recruited at the end of the summer to replace him. Lunin even managed to make Carlo Ancelotti forget the Belgian, although he was back. The Italian will count on him for the semi-final return against Bayern, Wednesday May 8 (2-2 in the first leg).

Before gaining the trust of Carlo Ancelotti, Andriy Lunin had to be patient at Casa Blanca. Arriving from Zorya Luhansk, a Ukrainian first division club, in the summer of 2018 for a record check for a young 19-year-old Ukrainian goalkeeper, he was forced to take three loans in two and a half years – Leganés, Valladolid and Oviedo, for a total of 29 matches played – before having a place in the first team squad.

Ukrainian ambassador for European football

After three seasons confined to the bench to wait in the shadow of the stars merengues, Andriy Lunin finally tastes light and glory. But in moderation. Rather discreet by nature, the native of Krasnohrad, an hour’s drive southwest of Kharkiv, even refuses to be praised after having stopped two penalties during the penalty shootout against Manchester City in quarter-finals: “I’m not a hero. The real difficulty is the war in my country, where my family and friends are. It’s not easy to go to training every day receiving the worst possible news.”

While Russian bombs often rain on the region where he comes from, the most followed Ukrainian athlete on Instagram (with three million subscribers) never misses an opportunity to be an ambassador for his country in Europe. In May 2022, when Real Madrid won its 14th Champions League, Andriy Lunin paraded with his blue and yellow flag on his shoulders and added on the networks: “It is important not to forget what is happening in our country.” Three months earlier, the invasion of Ukraine declared by Vladimir Putin had just turned his life upside down.

The goalkeeper, naturally very reserved, had to speak out to defend the interests of his country. And encouraged his Real Madrid teammates to also donate jerseys and crampons for auctions for the benefit of the Ukrainian army, which he co-organizes with his compatriot Roman Zozulya, center forward of Rayo Majadahonda in the suburbs of the capital Spanish. Between two prize pool links relayed on his social networks, Andriy Lunin is also seen at pro-Ukrainian demonstrations in the streets of Madrid or wearing gloves from a brand produced in his country.

Since February 24, 2022, Carlo Ancelotti recognizes, his young goalkeeper has changed: “He no longer has the same state of mind as before. He doesn’t talk much, but he is worried because he has relatives in kyiv and it affects him. But I think the training helps him not to think about those things all the time.” Yet another ordeal, undoubtedly the most complicated, for the man who had to go into exile following the successive disappearances of his training clubs: Metalist Kharkiv then FK Dnipro.

An eventful training through a battered Ukraine

In Ukrainian football plagued by bankruptcies or other financial embezzlement, Andriy Lunin still managed to establish himself as one of the most promising goalkeepers in his country, starting in the first division at the age of 17 with Dnipro, making him one of the five youngest goalkeepers in the Ukrainian championship. He was unwillingly transferred to Zorya Luhansk the following season, after the administrative relegation of his second club to D3, and there he discovered the Europa League, his first major European competition.

Before being for the first time in his career a proud ambassador of the Ukrainian nation, when he and his comrades lifted the Under-20 World Cup trophy in the Polish sky on June 15, 2019. The very first trophy of the history of the Ukrainian national team. A starter in the Zbirna cages and best goalkeeper in the competition, he was welcomed as a hero on his return to the country and inherited a special status in the hearts of citizens bruised by the first Russian invasion in Crimea and the Donbass.

An affection that Andriy Lunin is trying to repay to the Ukrainians today, whether through his performances on the pitch with Real Madrid or through his multiple commitments outside of it. “I try to help people, encourage them, do what I cantimidly concedes the 1m91 hero in the mixed zone. I feel that encouragement that people give me and I try to return the favor.”