Champions: Napoli, Milan and Inter in the quarterfinals without conceding goals

Milan-Tottenham 1-0 and 0-0. Inter-Porto 1-0 and 0-0. Napoli-Eintracht 2-0 and 3-0. A wall raised by the defenses of our three Champions League that repelled every attack, be it English, Portuguese or German. Six games, zero goals conceded. And there is no need to bring up the old Italian bolt that our detractors across the border like to mention so much. Spalletti’s Azzurri put on a show, the Devil wrapped up Conte’s Spurs hiding the ball from him for 180′ (the only thrill was Maignan’s save from Harry Kane’s header in added time).

Simone Inzaghi risked something more, with that trio of chances in the final stages of Do Dragao (Dumfries save on the line, post and crossbar), but Andre Onana sealed off the Nerazzurri goal. In short, in the round of 16, the foreigner did not pass.

anomaly

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If Napoli have the best defense in Serie A with 16 goals conceded in 27 games, the same cannot be said of Inter (sixth with 30 on a par with Atalanta and Udinese) and Milan (even eleventh with 33 goals conceded). An anomaly then? In the group stage, the Azzurri collected 6 in 6 games, 2 in the only match they didn’t win, the 0-2 draw at Anfield with first place already in the pocket. The Nerazzurri 7, as well as the Rossoneri. The rivals’ attacks in the round of 16 had closed the first phase with 8 goals scored (Tottenham), 7 (Eintracht) and 12 (Porto). The best? That of Napoli with 20 goals, which became 25 with the round of 16, ahead of Manchester City (22, 14 +8), Bayern Munich (21, 18 +3) and Real Madrid (21, 15 +6). Milan scored 13 (12+1) and Inter 11 (10+1).

historical defenses

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Between the group stage and the round of 16, the best defense ever is that of Bayern, who only conceded two in the same match from Viktoria Plzen (won 4-2), then keeping PSG’s wonderful attack dry. Behind them the Citizens, who conceded 3 goals, one from Dortmund and Sevilla in the first phase, one from Leipzig in the first leg match. Chelsea is in third place with 5. In terms of clean sheets, Inter with 5 is second only to the Bavarians (7) while Milan and Napoli are paired on the third step of the podium, together with Porto (4). The primacy of the Champions League belongs to Arsenal, who in 2005-06 kept a clean sheet for 10 consecutive matches (995 minutes of unbeaten run). It was stopped by Samuel Eto’o in the 76th minute of the final which Barcelona beat the Gunners 2-1 (the Cameroonian equalized Campbell’s lead, with Belletti match winner in the 81st minute). Jens Lehmann (648 minutes) and Manuel Almunia (347) alternated in goal.

samples with armored door

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The record for fewest goals allowed by a winning team is shared with two goals by Aston Villa (9 games in 1981–82), both against Dinamo Berlin in the round of 16, and Milan (12 games in 1993–94), all and two scored between Werder Bremen in the group stage, Mario Basler and Wynton Rufer from penalties. That Diavolo by Fabio Capello also holds the record for the lowest percentage of goals conceded in the history of the Champions League, 0.16 per game.