FC Porto's Iker Casillas breaks Champions League clean sheet record

Iker Casillas joined FC Porto from Real Madrid in the summer of 2015

FC Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas has surpassed Edwin Van Der Saar’s record of keeping the most number of clean sheets in Champions League history. The previous record was set by the former Manchester United keeper, who was the first ever player to keep 50 clean sheets in the competition.

The 34-year-old has enjoyed a good run of form in the past few years. Casillas earned worldwide recognition at his former club Real Madrid where he remained the undisputed No.1 goalkeeper for many years and won 5 La Liga titles along with 3 Champions League trophies.

Although, he is a legend in and around the capital city of Spain, he ran out of favour at the Santiago Bernabeu towards the end of his Los Blancos career. Ever since Mourinho took charge of the Spanish giants, nothing had gone well for the shot stopper. He also lost his place as the Spanish number one and was often benched during his former club’s league matches. The Madrid legend was utilised only for the cup matches.

The ex-Spain international grew frustrated with the lack of game time at the Bernabeu and he decided to make the switch to Portugal powerhouse FC Porto during the summer. And last night, he helped his side to a 2-0 victory over Maccabi Tel Aviv and climb to the top of Champions League Group G.

It was a good outing for Casillas in the Champions League last night. Since joining his new club, the 34-year-old has been impressive and last night, he finally broke a record which had evaded him for some time. The clean-sheet against the Israeli champions went down as Casillas’s 51st in the Champions League.

Former Manchester United legend Van der Sar had held the record in the competition of 50 clean sheets which had stood for some time as the Dutch shot-stopper had consistently shown his class in the competition. Firstly with Dutch giants Ajax and then with the Red Devils later on his career.

This is not the only record Casillas has broken this year. Last month, he broke the Champions League appearance record by playing his 152nd game in the 2-1 win over English champions Chelsea.

Casillas and his teammates now top their group with 7 points while the Blues sit in third behind Dynamo Kiev.

Check out this Opta Infographic on Casillas’s achievement below.