10 teams that have conceded the fewest goals in the 21st century

#6 Atlético Madrid - 725 goals conceded

Jan Oblak is one of the main reasons for Atlético Madrid's great defensive record.

When talking about sides that do not concede a lot of goals, one of the names that pop up in our minds is Atlético Madrid. The La Liga giants have once again emerged as a force to be reckoned with in the Spanish top flight following their Golden Era back in the 1950s and 1960s.

Diego Simeone has built a solid defensive side with a focus on maintaining possession and compactness in the backline as well as launching quick counter-attacks. The club has conceded 725 goals this century so far and misses out on the top spot on this metric among Spanish clubs by just 13 goals.

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#5 Barcelona - 712 goals conceded

Barcelona are the Spanish side with the least goals conceded this century.

The first club in the top five is Barcelona, who have beaten arch-rivals Real Madrid and defensive-minded Atletico Madrid to become the Spanish side with the fewest goals scored against them. They have conceded 13 goals fewer than Atletico and 95 fewer than Los Blancos in the last twenty years.

The Catalans were always a powerhouse in Spanish football and have continued their dominance in the league since the turn of the century, winning 10 in the 20 La Liga seasons this century.

Their crowning achievement came in the 2008-09 season when they became the first Spanish side to win a continental treble, with possibly the best squad of all time before repeating the feat in 2014-15 season, becoming the first side to do so.

Thanks to players like Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique in the defence and goalkeepers like Victor Valdes and Marc Andre Ter-Stegen starting between the sticks in the 21st century, they have only conceded 712 goals across all competitions.

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#4 Chelsea - 704 goals conceded

Petr Cech became one of the best goalkeepers in the world during his spell with Chelsea.

Chelsea, one of the clubs that rose to prominence at the beginning of the 21st century, make it into our list and that too at a respectable fourth position. The London club's success after the takeover by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in July 2003 set a precedent for other clubs as to how an influx of money can change a club's fortunes.

Jose Mourinho turned the team into genuine contenders and won two back-to-back titles with them in 2005 and 2006, building upon strong defensive performances throughout. Petr Cech was the bedrock of their solidity in defence and served them with distinction playing a key role in them conceding just 704 goals since 2000.

The Blues still hold the record for fewest goals shipped in a single Premier League campaign, with the opponents only beating Cech on 15 occasions in the 2004-05 campaign.

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Also See: 5 Premier League goalkeepers with the most clean sheets in a single season