David De Gea and Manuel Neuer have been battling it out for the title of the best keeper in the world for several years now, but one man has all the credentials to be crowned the world’s best. Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak has proved himself to be one of the top three goalkeepers in the world in recent years but this unbelievable statistic could allow him to surpass both David De Gea and Manuel Neuer to become the undisputed number one.
Since the 2013/14 season, covering spells with Benfica and Atletico, the big Slovenian keeper has kept more clean sheets than he has conceded goals. In total, in Liga NOS and La Liga, Oblak has kept 86 clean sheets and conceded 74 goals. That is simply a ridiculous record and it gets even more insane when you look into it.
In the 2013/14 season for Benfica, Oblak kept 14 clean sheets in 16 league games. Read that again. In total he got 22 clean sheets in 28 games with Benfica. Insane. He conceded just 8 goals in those 28 games which included Liga Nos games and Europa League titles for a strong Benfica side.
Critics will point to Atletico Madrid’s strong defensive line-up and Diego Simeone’s pragmatic approach to football, but having a defensively minded manager does not guarantee clean sheets, as Jose Mourinho is showing at Manchester United.
Let’s compare these stats to David De Gea, who many believe to be the best in the world in his position. Since the 2013/14 season, De Gea has kept 71 clean sheets for Manchester United in the league, but conceded a whopping 181 goals. He has played 187 games in comparison to Oblak’s 139 but kept less clean sheets and conceded over double the number of goals.
There is only one winner here. Jan Oblak is the best goalkeeper in the world.
