Iker Casillas Winds Back the Clock for a Night as Real Madrid Fight Past Almeria

Almeria's Verza stood over a free-kick on the right flank. Despite Gareth Bale having snatched back the lead only moments earlier, the hosts had been building. Not dominating, but building.

Real Madrid, for all their power, had a game on their hands. One with a club fresh from sacking its manager after a 5-2 thrashing at the hands of tiny Eibar. A club without a league win in almost three months. A club they'd beaten by an aggregate score of 17-1 across their last three meetings. 

Somehow, though, none of that mattered. Despite their turmoil, these Andalusians, it appeared, were enjoying their tussle with the big boys. A contest this was. And here was a chance to fashion another attempt on goal just before the break. 

So there stood Verza, brimming with confidence on the back of his wonder strike just five minutes earlier. With men thrown adventurously forward, the Spaniard whipped a dangerous-looking ball into the box. Surely something would come of this. It just looked menacing. It felt ominous after an impressive 10 minutes. 

Almeria's players rushed to meet Verza's delivery. Could one of them get that tiny touch needed to create a chance? Could they win the first header? Bring it to ground in the penalty area? Stir some confusion? Just force it in? Flop for penalty? Blow it into the net? Anything?

The home crowd thought so. They were buoyant. The game had that mood about it. But Iker Casillas had other ideas. 

The goalkeeper came off his line—an event that's often been an instigator of shakiness in recent years. Yet this was different. It wasn't frantic. Nor hesitant. Instead, there was a calm authority to it. With a minimum of fuss, Casillas simply rose above the congestion and claimed Verza's probing ball with the strongest of hands. 

In an instant, the situation was quelled. Danger averted. Order restored. 

Everywhere, thoughts were the same: It's been a long time, but we've seen this Iker before. 

Stu Forster/Getty Images

---

Verza stood over his penalty kick. Though he hadn't won his last battle with Casillas, here he had another chance. A better one. One where he had the upper hand. After finding the back of the net with a 30-yard screamer, this would surely be a tap in for the midfielder. 

He'd been gifted the opportunity in part by Marcelo, in part by Edgar. The Brazilian had made a little needless contact but the Almeria man's fall was dramatic. Very. Like those in a 1960s Bond film. Maybe he'd been taking tips from the other end. 

So there Verza stood, brimming with confidence. That free-kick had been a half-chance. This was a genuine one. A moment that, if seized, would draw the hosts back level at 2-2. Level with Real Madrid well into the second half. At home. Could they?

The buildup to this clash had centred on Real's dominance and their search for a 20th straight win. Little Almeria, the lowly relegation strugglers without a manager on the sideline, weren't going to halt them. Not when Cristiano Ronaldo had almost doubled their entire team's goal tally. 

Yet, beyond the hour mark, on an odd Friday night, only Casillas stood between Verza (if you'd removed every other player from the pitch, the battle between the pair would have been entertaining enough on its own) and challenging all that. 

This was it. Almeria's opportunity to flirt with the unthinkable. Casillas' record against penalties is a fine one, yes, but he's a keeper in decline who's often looked as unsure as he once did unfazed. 

Verza ran in—not one of those stuttering run-ins but a proper one. He struck it sweet, essentially his primary requirement. It would be 2-2, surely. Almeria, of all teams, might just halt this run. 

The home crowd thought so. But Iker Casillas had other ideas. 

He lunged low to his left. It wasn't frantic. Nor hesitant. He moved with the ease he might have once done as a 20-year-old in training. 

Shot saved. Danger averted. Order restored. 

Everywhere, thoughts were the same: It's been a long time, but we've seen this Iker before. 

Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images

---

"I think a big part of success in football is mental, not physical," Casillas told The Guardian's Sid Lowe in November. "How you are inside your head matters more."

Frankly, one senses the Real Madrid icon hasn't been at ease inside his head for some time. Mentally, he's felt "isolated."

But form, through persistence, can be reversible. Though age can't be, performance can.

And Casillas believed so: "I'm convinced that with my attitude and ability everything will go back to being the way it was before."

For one night in Andalusia, it did.

Follow @TimDCollins