Topics: La Liga, Real Madrid, Valencia, Diego Alves, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Chicharito
The Brazilian shot-stopper was key to Valencia's draw against Los Blancos, saving a penalty kick taken by CR7 and denying all of the team's strikers.

Barcelona should at least send a fruit basket to Diego Alves after his amazing display against Real Madrid. Valencia's goalkeeper delivered one of the greatest performances this season in La Liga, and single-handedly ended Los Blancos' chances of winning the Spanish top flight once more. Now, Barcelona only needs to win one more game to become champions after a 2013-2014 season without any trophies.

Alves' form was superb most of the game, dismissing any shot or header that threatened to find the back of his net. He even managed to deny Cristiano Ronaldo his 43rd goal this season, when he stopped a penalty kick in the final seconds of the first half. Although Pepe and Isco managed to get past him, Alves cleared shots by Javier Hernandez, Gareth Bale, and a massive header by Sergio Ramos, which seemed to be destined to go in. With his save against Ronaldo, Diego Alves became the first goalkeeper to deny the Portuguese striker twice from the penalty spot, and he accomplished this feat in just one season. 

Furthermore, Alves has saved more penalties than any other goalkeeper in the last ten La Liga seasons, surpassing such colleagues as Victor Valdes, Iker Casillas and many more. Alves has saved a whopping 16 penalties, with a success rate of 48%.

Here's Alves saving Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty kick.

Find out what fans and experts had to say about the Brazilian's amazing display!

Here's one thankful Barcelona fan.