Keylor Navas celebrated Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League last night more than most. The Costa Rican kept an eight successive clean sheet in Europe, which places him 2nd in the list of most minutes played without conceding a goal.
Edwin van der Sar had gone 657 minutes without conceding in the Champions League in Ajax’s dream run in 1995/96. At the start of the game, Navas needed to go 28 minutes without conceding so as to go past that mark. Navas nearly did concede, but charged down one-on-one’s from Edin Dzeko and Mohammed Salah to keep his unspoiled net and surpass Van der Sar’s mark.
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Keylor Navas, for his part, also made saves from Alessandro Florenzi, Kostas Manolas and Diego Perotti to go on to record his eighth clean sheet in the 2015/16 Champions League, where Navas has yet to be breached. The Costa Rican has now gone 720 minutes without conceding a goal, and will be eyeing the Champions League record.
However, Navas was happy to be where he is , saying “I always try to do my work as best as possible and improve. My teammates help me out, and things are going well for me. When I needed to intervene, I was able to stop a few chances from Roma. This makes me very happy and motivates me to keep working.”
Navas is not far from beating Lehmann’s record
The Champions League leader for shutouts is Jens Lehmann, who went 853 minutes without conceding a goal, in Arsenal’s run to the 2005/06 Champions League final. The German was sent off in the final, and the goals that Arsenal conceded did not reflect on his record, as Manuel Almunia was in goal as Arsenal went down 2-1.
Navas needs to keep a clean sheet in the first leg of Real Madrid’s quarter-finals, while also going 44 minutes without conceding in the second-leg to surpass Lehmann’s record.
Here is the leaderboard of Champions League shutouts:
| Player | Team | Minutes w/o conceding |
|---|---|---|
| Jens Lehmann | Arsenal | 853 |
| Keylor Navas | Real Madrid | 720 |
| Edwin van der Sar | Ajax | 657 |
| Dida | AC Milan | 622 |
| Illgner | Real Madrid | 593 |
With just 133 minutes between him and the all-time record, the Santiago Bernabeu faithful must be ever so grateful that one of Real Madrid and Manchester United botched up David de Gea’s transfer, as they now worship at the altar of San Keylor.
