Vladislav Stoyanov, the goalkeeper who stopped Ronaldo

Not many goalkeepers can say they kept a clean sheet against Cristiano Ronaldo and his team. Even fewer have saved two of his penalties: only three goalkeepers in the world have done it.

Vladislav Stoyanov, goalkeeper of Bulgaria and Ludogorets Razgrad, gave a magnificent performance to keep a clean sheet in the friendly between Portugal and Bulgaria in Leiria last week. Ronaldo's frustration was obvious after the match, as he left the pitch as quickly as he could. He had around nine scoring chances, including a penalty and two free-kicks, and Stoyanov saved every one of them.

The Bulgarian goalkeeper made four saves in the first five minutes. In the 2nd minute Nani went one on one with Stoyanov, but the Bulgarian showed great reflexes and pushed the ball away for a corner. After 20 minutes Ronaldo had the chance to shoot from a free-kick, but Stoyanov tipped the ball away again. Meanwhile, at the other end, Bulgaria scored and put the Portuguese under pressure.

After the break the Real Madrid star had another free-kick, but Stoyanov stood in front of the Bulgarian goal like a brick wall and denied Ronaldo once more. In the 60th minute Portugal were awarded a penalty, the hosts' clearest chance of the match. Remarkably, Stoyanov made a one-handed save and left Ronaldo dejected. A couple of minutes later the forward had another chance, but the angle was tight and Stoyanov saved again.

In the 90th minute Ronaldo outjumped a Bulgarian defender and headed towards goal, but the goalkeeper once again showed real world-class ability, tipping the ball away. That was the last action of the match, and it summed up the goalkeeper's evening perfectly.

Most notably, this was not the first penalty Stoyanov had saved from Ronaldo. Two years earlier the Portuguese forward missed a penalty in the Champions League against Bulgarian champions Ludogorets, and the goalkeeper that night was, of course, Stoyanov.

Stoyanov is not the only goalkeeper to have saved two Ronaldo penalties. Carlos Kameni of Málaga and Diego Alves of Valencia have done the same. Kameni did it on 18 April 2015 and 21 February 2016, while Alves made his first save against Ronaldo six years ago, when he was playing for Almería.

The match in Leiria

The friendly was played on 25 March 2016, and Bulgaria won it 1-0. The goal came around the 20th minute from Ludogorets midfielder Marcelinho, who was making his debut for Bulgaria: he got away from Pepe after a pass from Ivelin Popov and squeezed the ball past the goalkeeper. Portugal dominated possession and chances, with around 20 attempts in the first half alone. The penalty came after Nikolay Bodurov handled a cross from Pepe, and the save that followed sealed Bulgaria's first win over Portugal since December 1981.

The night in Sofia

The earlier penalty save came on 1 October 2014, in a Champions League group match between Ludogorets and Real Madrid in Sofia. Marcelinho headed the Bulgarian champions in front early on. Real were then awarded two penalties: Stoyanov saved Ronaldo's first attempt, but the Portuguese forward scored from the second. Karim Benzema volleyed in a cross from Marcelo late in the game to give Madrid a 2-1 win.

Ludogorets had only reached that group stage after a dramatic play-off against Steaua Bucharest on 27 August 2014. Stoyanov kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 home win but was sent off in the 119th minute, and defender Cosmin Moți went in goal and saved two penalties in the shoot-out. It was the club's first appearance in the Champions League group stage.

The goalkeeper behind the saves

Stoyanov was born in Pernik in 1987 and came through the CSKA Sofia academy before playing for Chernomorets Burgas. He then spent two years at Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova, where he won the national title, and joined Ludogorets in January 2013. In Razgrad he won a string of Bulgarian championships, and he was named Bulgarian Footballer of the Year for 2014. Portugal recovered from the defeat in Leiria to win Euro 2016 a few months later.