Best in top 5 leagues 2022/23
Marc-André ter Stegen kept a clean sheet in FC Barcelona’s 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao – in his 25th LaLiga game this season for the 19th time. The 30-year-old has already matched his personal best from the 2017/18 season and has 13 games left to equal the 21st-century record in the top five leagues. The DFB keeper is still missing five zero games.
Since 2000: Most clean sheets in a top five league season
At the top of the ranking are Petr Cech (40) and Jan Oblak (30), who each kept 24 clean sheets in one season. Cech did that in his debut season at Chelsea in 2004/05, playing three fewer games than Oblak did at Atlético Madrid in 2015/16, who didn’t miss a game then.
In the Barça ranking, Ter Stegen is missing four clean sheets on Claudio Bravo (39). In his first year with the Catalans, the native of Mönchengladbach had to be content with the role of number two behind the Chilean. Bravo repaid the trust with 23 clean sheets in 37 appearances. Compared to the German goalkeepers, Manuel Neuer (36) is ahead of Ter Stegen. Although the Bundesliga has four fewer matches than the other top leagues, the Bayern keeper kept 21 clean sheets in 34 appearances in 2015/16.
Ter Stegen is celebrated for achievements at FC Barcelona: “Wall of Europe”
Hardly anyone in Spain doubts that Ter Stegen can still reach the next milestones. The DFB keeper is celebrated by fans, players and the media for his weekly performances. The “Wall of Europe” was described by the “mark“. In the current season, no other goalkeeper in the top 5 leagues has come close to the goal-zero value of Ter Stegens, who is not only praised for these skills, but also for his skill with the ball at his feet.
Ter Stegen ahead: Most clean sheets in 2022/23 in top 5 leagues
For Jordi Masip (34), Real Valladolid captain and ter Stegen’s team-mate at Barça from 2014 to 2017, the outstanding thing about the German is “the confidence with which he plays. He doesn’t feel the pressure, he plays calmly. That’s one of the best things he shows,” Masip summed up for Marca. Ter Stegen was “already a pretty complete goalkeeper when he arrived,” “but he improved his footwork and his one-on-ones even more.”
Goalkeeping coach Jon Pascua, who joined Quique Setién at Barça in 2020, emphasized when asked about ter Stegen: “Of all his great qualities, of which there are countless, I can highlight two: The first is his ability to stress with the ball at his feet endure when confronted with the presence and pressure of the opponent. The second is his almost perfect handling of one-on-one situations.”
Ter Stegen is also praised for his integration on and off the pitch. The DFB goalkeeper didn’t want to be an outsider in a foreign city and integrated into the team like a whirlwind, Masip recalled, also “the desire he had to work and improve” and “how quickly he was learning the language and how quickly he wanted to adapt to the team.”
To home page