Top 7 Goalkeepers In UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League is an annual club football league organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). It is contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the winners through a round-robin group stage. The UEFA champions league is one of the most famous football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football. Let us check the top 7 goalkeepers in UEFA Champions League.

Ranking Of Top Goalkeepers With Most Clean Sheets In UEFA

1. Iker Casillas

Iker Casillas was born on 20 May 1981. He is a retired Spanish football goalkeeper. Casillas is well-known for his quick reflexes and exceptional shot-blocking skills. Casillas, who spent most of his career with Real Madrid, is one of the few players to have played in over 1000 professional matches. He also holds the record for the highest number of clean sheets in the UEFA Champions League and for the Spain team. Casillas began his club career with Real Madrid’s youth team. Later he was promoted to the main team in 1999. He became the club’s youngest goalie to play in the Champions League final and win the trophy, at the age of 19. Casillas established himself as Real Madrid’s first-choice goalkeeper.

He won two Champions Leagues and two La Liga crowns in his first three seasons.  Further, he won all major club titles in his career in Madrid, including five La Liga titles, four Supercopa de Espana titles, two Copa del Rey titles, three UEFA Champions Leagues, and two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. Casillas has 167 international caps for Spain. Casillas was the country’s first-choice goalkeeper at the 2002 World Cup, and he went on to play in the UEFA Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup. He was named captain in 2008 and led the team to the European Championship title that year. Casillas also guided Spain to their first World Cup victory in 2010 and received the Yashin Award for being an outstanding goalkeeper. Spain became the first country to retain the European Championship, winning the title again in 2012.

2. Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon was born on 28 January 1978. He is an Italian football goalkeeper who captains and plays for the Serie B team Parma. He is one of the players with more than 1,100 career appearances. Buffon’s career began in 1995 with Parma, when he made his Serie A debut. He helped Parma in winning the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup, and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1999. After joining Juventus in 2001, Buffon won Serie A in both of his first two seasons. He won a record nine Serie A titles, four Coppa Italias, and five Supercoppa Italiana at Juventus. Buffon was the first goalie to be selected as Serie A Footballer of the Year. He also won a record twelve times Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year.

After reaching the UEFA Champions League finals in 2015 and 2017, he joined the Champions League Squad of the Season on both occasions. He received the Best FIFA Goalkeeper award in 2017. Buffon joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2018. In his single season at the club, he won the Trophee des Champions and the Ligue 1 title before returning to Juventus the following year. During the 2019–20 season, Buffon was mostly a backup player, although he managed to beat Paolo Maldini’s Serie A record of 647 appearances as the team won a record tenth, Serie, A title. The next season, he was still a backup, but he started in the Coppa Italia, where he won a record sixth title. He returned to his childhood club Parma in June 2021, after they were demoted to Serie B for the season.

3. Edwin van der Sar

Edwin van der Sar is a Dutch football executive and former footballer. He is presently the CEO of AFC Ajax, where he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s. Van der Sar is regarded as a member of Ajax’s golden generation, having played on the team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995. He left Ajax in 1999 for Juventus, where he stayed for two years before transferring to England, first to Fulham and then to Manchester United in 2005. In 2008, he received his second Champions League trophy with the club. He became one of just eight players in history to have won the competition with more than one club. He resigned as a professional in 2011.

Later he returned to play for the Dutch amateur team VV Noordwijk, for whom he had previously played as a child, in 2016. He made 130 appearances for the Netherlands team and was the country’s most-capped player until 2017 when Wesley Sneijder surpassed him. Edwin is also one of the most successful players in history, having won 26 trophies throughout his career. He received most of the trophies with Ajax and Manchester United. During the 2008–09 season, he created a world record by going 1,311 minutes without allowing a league goal. He is also the oldest Premier League winner. Van der Sar has received several individual awards, including Best European Goalkeeper in 1995 and 2009, as well as UEFA Club Goalkeeper of the Year in 2009.

4. Manuel Neuer

Manuel Neuer was born on March 27, 1986. He is a German footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for the Bundesliga club Bayern Munich. Neuer also captains the German national team. He is one of the best goalkeepers. IFFHS rated him the greatest goalkeeper of the decade from 2011 to 2020. He joined Bayern Munich in 2011 and has since won 27 trophies, including 10 Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions League wins, both as part of trebles, in 2013 and 2020. In 2014, Neuer finished third in the FIFA Ballon d’Or vote, trailing only Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Neuer was Germany’s number one goalkeeper for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He won the 2014 FIFA World Cup for his country and also received the Golden Glove award for the tournament’s best goalkeeper.

5. Petr Cech

Petr Cech was born on 20 May 1982. He is a former Czech football player. He works as a technical and performance advisor for English side Chelsea. Cech also plays ice hockey with Guildford Phoenix as a goalkeeper. He is the greatest goalkeeper in Premier League history. Cech began his senior career in 1999. At the age of 19, Cech became a first-team regular, and during his sole season with the club, he set a league record by not conceding a goal in 903 competitive minutes. This resulted in his first transfer overseas, to France, when he joined Ligue 1 club Rennes for a sum of €5.5 million in 2002.

In 2004, he joined the Premier League club, Chelsea, for a price of £7 million (€9.8 million). Cech made 494 senior appearances for the club during his eleven-year tenure, making him the club’s highest abroad appearance maker and sixth all-time. In addition, he assisted the team in winning four Premier League crowns, four FA Cups, three League Cups, one UEFA Champions League trophy, and one UEFA Europa League title. Cech also owns the Chelsea all-time clean sheet record with 228. He left Chelsea in 2015 for £10 million to join city rivals Arsenal, where he won another FA Cup before retiring in 2019. Cech made his Czech Republic debut in 2002 and is the most capped player in Czech national team history, with 124 caps. He represented his country in the World Cup in 2006, as well as the European Championships in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

6. Victor Valdes

Victor Valdes was born on 14 January 1982. He is a Spanish football coach and former goalkeeper. He spent most of his career with Barcelona in La Liga. Valdes is one of the club’s finest goalkeepers. He has played in 535 official games and won 21 major titles, including six La Liga crowns and three UEFA Champions League championships. Valdes also set a record by winning the Zamora Trophy five times. Further, he now holds the club record for most league and official competition appearances as a goalkeeper.

Valdes joined Manchester United in January 2015 after leaving Barcelona at the end of his contract in July 2014. He rarely played at United, and after a brief loan spell at Standard Liege, he joined Middlesbrough. Valdes took retirement from football after being released by Middlesbrough at the end of the 2016–17 season. Valdes started his career in 2010 and has since received 20 caps. He was a member of the Spain team that won the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 UEFA Euro. He also helped his team finish second in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

7. Nelson de Jesus Silva

Nelson de Jesus Silva was born on 7 October 1973. He is commonly known as Dida. Dida is a former Brazilian goalkeeper. He began his career in Brazil with Vitoria in the early 1990s. He is most known for his ten-year career with AC Milan from 2000 to 2010. During this period, he established himself as one of the world’s top goalkeepers. He also won several medals and individual awards. Dida won one Serie A title (Scudetto) and two UEFA Champions Leagues with Milan. He is one of four Milan goalkeepers with 300 career appearances. He has joined other former club players for off-the-field appearances and exhibition matches. Dida received 91 caps in eleven years with the Brazil team. He helped the team in winning the FIFA World Cup and an Olympic medal. He is the most successful player in FIFA Confederations Cup history.

In 2006, he became the first black goalie to start for Brazil in a FIFA World Cup finals competition since 1950. He resigned from football after Brazil was knocked out in the quarter-finals. Dida was the initial FIFPro Goalkeeper of the Year. He is the first Brazilian keeper to be considered for the FIFA Ballon d’Or. He has also been nominated seven times for the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper award. Further, he was one of ten players to win both the Champions League and the Copa Libertadores. He received the finest Latin American goalkeeper of the twenty-first century by IFFHS. Further, he is one of Brazil’s all-time greats in the position.

Who is UEFA goalkeeper of the Year in 2021?

Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy is the UEFA goalkeeper of the year in 2021.

You can refer to the TOP 10 MOST GOAL SCORERS OF BUNDESLIGA IN 2021-2022

Conclusion

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