Atletico Madrid would surely have gone through to the Champions League quarter-finals anyway, but that should not diminish the brilliance of Jan Oblak's hat-trick of saves in the 69th minute of Wednesday's last-16 second leg against Bayer Leverkusen.

First, the Slovenian stood as tall as his six-foot-two frame would allow him in order to deny Julian Brandt after the 21-year-old had burst through one-on-one.Second, he leapt leftwards across his six-yard box from a sitting start to slap away Kevin Volland's rebound. 

Third, he sprung just as far back in the opposite direction, like a big Slovenian glove-wearing Newton's Cradle, to reach Volland's second attempt in as many seconds.Fourth, he exhaustedly, delightedly and deservedly collapsed backwards into his goal after having watched Javier Hernandez's effort trickle wide and out for the most well-earned of goal kicks. 

It's no hyperbole to suggest that his triple-save might go down as the most impressive 10 seconds of goalkeeping to ever take place, but what would be an exaggeration would be to get caught up in the excitement and to suggest that the Atletico shot stopper is already the best in the world. 

That's exactly what Antoine Griezmann claimed after the match, but anyone not wearing red-and-white-tinted spectacles might view the situation a little differently. It's true that Oblak is among the best goalkeepers on the planet and he deserves far more credit for Atletico's binary code-esque goals conceded record than he receives from some quarters - many still assume he is piggybacking on the work of the team's stellar back line - but there is a need to pump the brakes when it comes to prematurely crowing him the very best in the business. 

At 24 years of age, Oblak still has some imperfections and he is still improving as he races to match the consistently high level of more experienced players such as Manuel Neuer, Gianluigi Buffon, David de Gea and Hugo Lloris. 

Specifically, his distribution requires some work, as anyone who watched his passing blunder in Atletico's draw away at Deportivo two weeks ago will testify to. 

Looking at his average distribution success this season, the Slovenian's LaLiga rate of 61 percent is the 75th best in Europe's top five leagues, while his Champions League equivalent of 55 percent is just the 43rd of all goalkeepers to have featured in this season's competition. 

If truly nitpicking, his performance in penalty shootouts could also be improved.

Of the 29 penalties he has faced in the middle of matches, he has impressively saved nine of them, but when the pressure is at its highest, he has struggled and has parried just two of the past 28 penalties he has faced during shootouts, most memorably appearing to freeze during the 2016 Champions League final.

For such a young goalkeeper, these are minor issues that can be improved with time and experience, so Oblak is still well on his way to establishing himself as the world's best goalkeeper. 

Yet it would be false and unfair to pretend he is already the No. 1 of the No. 1s, especially if basing it on 10 - admittedly incredible - seconds.