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The footballing season in Europe has just got off to a flying start with a lot of wonderful goals being scored already, but a fact that is often neglected is the influence the people at the other end of the pitch have on the game. Sometimes a clean sheet is just a valuable as, if not more than, scoring a goal. We take a look at the best defensive records in domestic football across Europe in the 2015/16 season so far.
#6 Barcelona: 4 games played - 2 goals conceded
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Barcelona have got off to a flying start to the season winning all four games played. The defending La Liga champions have picked up where they left off last season by conceding just two goals and scoring eight in their first four appearances. This despite having played in the absence of their star defender Gerard Pique following a controversial ban for the first four games of the season after abusing the linesman in the second leg of the Spanish Cup final.
The stars at the back for the Blaugrana this season have been Marc Bartra, Javier Mascherano and Thomas Vermaelen. Unfortunately for Barcelona, Vermaelen was dealt yet another injury blow, as he limped out of the 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid. But this shouldn’t really be much of a problem for the treble winners, as the return of Gerard Pique after the game against Levante will certainly bolster the squad’s defensive line.
The partnership between Pique and Mascherano has been one of the pillars behind Barca’s success in recent years, and they are both among the world’s best centre-backs. Mascherano’s warrior-like approach to the game and Pique’s confidence on the ball and ability to play out from the back ensure that Barca’s solid back line smoothly transitions into attack.
#5 Bayern Munich: 5 games played - 2 goals conceded
Bayern would have been forgiven for thinking their seemingly perfect start to the Bundesliga season, winning all 5 games that they have played, would have been enough to place them at the top of the table. But a resurgent Borussia Dortmund side has that honour at the moment, scoring freely and hence ahead of the Bavarians on goal difference. Dortmund does not make this list though as they have conceded more than Bayern. And in that sense, Pep Guardiola’s team has to be lauded.
Bayern’s play emphasises is on quick wide play that is facilitated by a technically unerring central midfield – one that maintains possession at all costs, with no mishandling or mistakes afforded. As such, even their central defenders are required to function as defensive midfielders. Their long-ball distribution needs to be spot on, to seek out the speedy runs of the likes of Costa and Robben behind the opposition’s defence.
Also, with Gaurdiola’s style of play, their defenders need to be able to charge forward at a moment’s notice to provide an effective contribution to attack – as often evidenced by Boateng. As a result, with that gap that the CB leaves when charging forward, the defensive midfielders, also effectively function as part of Bayern’s defensive unit, as they need to be able to drop back to occasionally function even as a central defender themselves if need be.
Guardiola is a master tactician, and his methods are certainly ones that put the best use of his resources. Even Manuel Neuer's sweeping abilities becomes a necessity to a team that is highly susceptible to counter-attacks. They made headlines recently when they thrashed Bayer Leverkusen without playing a centre back in defence.
#4 Manchester City: 6 games played - 2 goals conceded
The Citizens’ defence has been crucial this season in their flying start to get to the top of the Premier League table. Despite a terrible pre-season showing, a resurgent City defence rose to the occasion, keeping 5 clean sheets in their 5 wins in the EPL.
The two goals they conceded came in their last
Right at the end of the transfer window, City had strengthened their defence with the signing of Nicolas Otamendi from Valencia, who joins a predominantly Argentine defence that also features his countrymen Pablo Zabaleta and Martin Demichelis. With the quality Otamendi offers, he is certain to feature eventually in a squad whose depth in defence is pretty alarming.
Factor in Vincent Kompany, Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy and Aleksandr Kolarov alongside them, and Manuel Pellegrini is certain to have some pleasant selection headaches.
#3 Valencia: 4 games played - 1 goal conceded
This might come as a surprise package to many, considering that Valencia is languishing in 7th position in the Primera Division with just one of their four games yielding a win. Yet it shouldn’t really be a surprise considering Valencia’s main strength has always been their defensive solidarity.
The team as yet remains unbeaten in La Liga, conceding just 1 goal in their 4 games so far. With players of the calibre of Shkodran Mustafi retained, and with the arrival of the likes of Joao Cancelo, the Valencia defensive unit will continue to be a tough nut to crack for any team in Spain, and even Europe, this season.
Even with the defenders that they had last season, Valencia were able to keep an amazing record of having conceded only 32 goals all sesason in La Liga. With the departure of their best defender in Otamendi, increasing importance is now on Mustafi, who is now set up to justify his World Cup winner’s medal.
The German centre-back’s partnership with Otamendi was a major factor in Valencia’s success last campaign. There is a lot of pressure on the 23-year-old, and his partnership with Abdennour was ruthlessly exposed by Zenit in the Champions league. But the solidity of Valencia’s defense is something that teams are going to be left fuming at.
#2 Internazionale: 4 games played - 1 goal conceded
Roberto Mancini’s return to San Siro as Internazionale coach last November was seen by fans as a step towards restoring the grand old club’s dignity. Not far unlike their rivals in the red, ofMilan, Inter have struggled to discard mid-table mediocrity in Serie A.
After winning a treble under Jose Mourinho, Inter have finished second, sixth, ninth, fifth and eighth. In recent years, Champions League football has been but an elusive dream and a title challenge nigh on impossible to mount.
The start of the new season has changed all of that with the Nerazzuri getting off to a flyer, unbeaten as of yet in Serie A with 4 wins in as many games. The main difference between the team that takes to the pitch this year to the rather shambolic ones of the past few seasons is the calmness they show on and off the ball.
Defensively, Inter have been solid at the back and the partnership between Joao Miranda and Jeison Murillo in particular has been a revelation. This new-found composure at the back has been the foundation for the rest of the team to mount an attack without worrying about the panic and chaos that invariably tended to ensue in seasons past.
The solidity that Geoffrey Kondogbia brings to Inter’s central midfield is also by no means inconsequential, and football lovers across the globe will be glad at the resurgence of a histroical football heavyweight.
#1 Real Madrid: 4 games played - 0 goals conceded
Real Madrid are only team from the top 5 European leagues to have a perfect defensive record. Four games in La Liga without conceding a single goal speaks volumes about the professionalism of Keylor Navas who despite having had to go through the sad episode that was the ‘David De Gea transfer saga’, has come out strongly this season. He is easily among the best goalkeepers this season, keeping Real Madrid together with his incredible shot-stopping.
In the recent past itself, Real had been often guilty of poor defending, conceding 117 goals in 114 games – unacceptable for a team of Real’s stature. One reason behind this was giving away too many fouls, primarily due to the penchant that the Real defenders had for throwing themselves into tackles.
With the arrival of Rafa Benitez, this has changed. Call him what you will, but the Spaniard is a defensive mastermind who can organize the shakiest of defence into a formidable unit. 4 clean sheets in as many games in La Liga, and another in their Champions League win against Shakhtar Donetsk, come courtesy of the new approach that cuts off any opponent’s attacking threat at the source.
The team from the capital was always notorious for indiscipline, and that too has drastically improved. In fact, Madrid have made the second-least amount of fouls this season in at La Liga and are instead working on retaining their defensive structure.
With the world’s best defenders in the form of Sergio Ramos, Pepe, Marcelo, Raphael Varane and Dani Carvajal, it is not hard to see how fast they have picked up on the former Napoli coach’s tactics and are employing them so quickly to devastating effect.
It remains to be seen how they deal with a couple of key injuries to the likes of Sergio Ramos, James Rodriguez, Danilo and Gareth Bale, But on current form, it would be unwise to bet against Real. They might even throw a spanner in the works of their Catalan counterparts looking to retain their title. If there is a team that could do it, it is Real Madrid.
