FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.12.2007 17:30

Valdés & Casillas concede the fewest goals

Jesús Carrillo

This Sunday, Víctor Valdés and Iker Casillas go head to head in the big match in the Camp Nou. Both keepers have a fantastic record in Spanish football and have many aspects of their careers in common.

Both Valdés and Casillas came up through the ranks of Barça and Real Madrid respectively. Casillas was born in May 1981 in Madrid while Valdés was born just ten months later in L’Hospitalet del Llobregat near Barcelona. They have the best goalkeeping statistics of the season, with Valdés topping the ranking with just 12 goals conceded while Casillas comes a close second with 14.

An unbeatable collection of honours

Valdés and Casillas have accumulated an enviable collection of silverware at club level, winning the Spanish league, the Champions League and the Spanish and European Super Cups. In addition, Víctor Valdés won the Zamora Trophy in the 2004/05 season for conceding the fewest goals in the Spanish league while Casillas picked up the Bravo Trophy for best European young player of the year in 2000.

Experience and youth

Both goalkeepers made their mark at an early age. At the age of 19, Casillas came off the bench to play in the 1999-2000 Champions League final and put on a terrific display in the final ten minutes of the match in Glasgow to prevent Bayer Leverkusen from winning. The 24-year-old Víctor Valdés was a vital part of the Barça team that beat Arsenal in the Paris final to win Barça’s second Champions League title. Casillas has been the undisputed number one keeper at Real Madrid since the 2000/01 season while Valdés made his permanent breakthrough, at the orders of Frank Rijkaard, in the 2003-04 season.

Valdés winning the battle

Starting from this 2003-04 season, the statistics show that Valdés is winning their private battle for best keeper in the Spanish league. Since then, Valdés has conceded 131 goals in the league while Iker Casillas has conceded 172. In the Champions League, Valdes has conceded 28 goals in 40 matches while Iker Casillas has leaked 48 goals in 39 matches.