Who is the Champions League’s best goalkeeper?
Jan Oblak and Manuel Neuer have both been the answer during their peaks, but the likes of Alisson Becker and Ederson have since climbed up the rungs and arguably usurped them with their distribution excellence.
However, there’s an argument to be had that the next generation is breathing down their neck with Gianluigi Donnarumma going from strength to strength and Anatolii Trubin making waves with Shakhtar Donetsk.
Who is the Champions League’s best goalkeeper?
And lest we forget the Manchester United-linked Diogo Costa, who might well be competing for the title in just a few seasons’ time having made Champions League history with his masterclass at Bayer Leverkusen.
Either way, though, let’s pause the discussion there for a second because it quickly becomes clear that trying to answer the debate in a wholly subjective manner quickly leads to an impasse.
Rather, let’s turn to the statistics to try and answer the question, because there’s ultimately only so much a shot-stopper can ever hide from the numbers that define their performance levels.
And of all the many data sets that goalkeepers are judged against these days, arguably none of them are quite as fascinating as the so-called ‘goals prevented’ metric which often serves as a gauge for shot-stopping performances.
What is goals prevented?
It’s a loose term to describe the difference between the actual total of goals that a ‘keeper has conceded and how many they were expected to let in based on statistical modelling assessing the quality of the shots in question.
To assess this, we’ve called upon the data gurus at FBref who monitor this statistic by way of taking post-shot expected goals minus goals conceded, excluding own goals but including penalties.
In other words, if Thibaut Courtois, say, was expected to have conceded five goals based on the quality of the shots he faced, but only let in three, then he would – in theory – have ‘prevented’ two goals.
Minus numbers, therefore, mean that a goalkeeper has conceded more goals than expected, indicating that there was likely an extra element of culpability and fault on their behalf.
Luck can come into the equation depending on the attempts in question, but it is nevertheless a respected way of monitoring how goalkeepers are getting on from a shot-stopping perspective.
Every Champions League goalkeeper ranked
But enough with the technical mumbo jumbo, because you want to see the results, so be sure to check out how every goalkeeper to have played in the Champions League proper this season ranks by goals prevented from worst to best.
44. Jindrich Stanek (Viktoria Plzen): -2.5
43. Pau Lopez (Marseille): -1.8
42. Marian Tvrdon (Viktoria Plzen): -1.4
41. Lukas Hradecky (Bayer Leverkusen): -1.4
40. Alexander Meyer (Borussia Dortmund): -0.7
39. Peter Gulacsi (RB Leipzig): -0.7
38. Remko Pasveer (Ajax): -0.5
37. Josh Cohen (Maccabi Haifa): -0.5
36. Alisson Becker (Liverpool): -0.5
35. Mike Maignan (AC Milan): -0.4
34. Andriy Lunin (Real Madrid): -0.4
33. Yassine Bounou (Sevilla): -0.4
32. Kevin Trapp (Eintracht Frankfurt): -0.3
31. Jon McLaughlin (Rangers): -0.3
30. Sven Ulreich (Bayern Munich): -0.2
29. Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona): -0.2
28. Mathew Ryan (Copenhagen): -0.1
27. Mattia Perin (Juventus): -0.1
26. Franco Israel (Sporting CP): -0.1
25. Ederson (Manchester City): -0.1
24. Wojciech Szczesny (Juventus): 0.0
23. Philipp Kohn (Red Bull Salzburg): 0.0
22. Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund): 0.0
21. Joe Hart (Celtic): 0.0
20. Odisseas Vlachodimos (Benfica): 0.1
19. Ciprian Tatarusanu (AC Milan): 0.1
18. Allan McGregor (Rangers): 0.1
17. Janis Blaswich (RB Leipzig): 0.1
16. Ivo Grbic (Atletico Madrid): 0.3
15. Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid): 0.4
14. Alex Meret (Napoli): 0.4
13. Diogo Costa (FC Porto): 0.4
12. Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea): 0.4
11. Mark Dmitrovic (Sevilla): 0.5
10. Dominik Livakovic (Dinamo Zagreb): 0.6
9. Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid): 0.7
8. Kamil Grabara (Copenhagen): 1.2
7. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur): 1.4
6. Manuel Neuer (Bayern Munich): 1.5
5. Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain): 1.7
4. Antonio Adan (Sporting CP): 1.8
3. Anatolii Trubin (Shakhtar Donetsk): 2.8
2. Andre Onana (Inter Milan): 3.0
- Simon Mignolet (Club Brugge): 4.4
Simon Mignolet, take a bow
We need to talk about Mignolet. Man, what a performance.
Considering that we’re only four games into the Champions League season, it’s staggering to think that the former Liverpool man has already prevented 4.4 goals and is yet to concede a single goal in a group with Atletico Madrid, FC Porto and Bayer Leverkusen.
Truth be told, the performances across the board from Brugge haave been staggering as they’ve booked their place in the knockout rounds for the very first time, but Mignolet’s masterclass at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Wednesday particularly underlined his massive contribution.
The data is, of course, influenced by how many shots that a goalkeeper faces, so don’t read too much into the likes of Ederson, Oblak and Ter Stegen floating around the zero mark.
But there’s no denying that the data doesn’t look particularly great for the Plzen goalkeepers who, although lumped in the ‘Group of Death’, clearly haven’t been doing themselves too many favours in the goalkeeping department either.
However, at the end of the day, everyone seems to be chasing Mignolet at the moment because he’s once again proving that he can be a world-class shot-stopper – note the key word there, folks – on his day.
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He might not have the overall quality of an Alisson or Ederson, but you can rest assured that he’ll put his body on the line to prevent a goal at all costs when the chips are down.
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