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It’s a common saying that titles are won on good defenses. To an extend it is true. You cannot win always win a game by outscoring your opponent. Sometimes you have to defend well and take your chances when it comes.The good thing about having a strong defensive unit with good communication and a keeper to keep out anything that gets past the backline is that you can always rely on them to at least get your team a draw. Sometimes a single point can be the difference between winning and losing the title.Her we look at some of the best defensive units in football since the turn of the century.Honourable Mentions: Germany (2002 World Cup and 2008 Euro), Barcelona (2008-09) and Juventus (2004-05 and 2011-12)
#1 Brazil (2002 World Cup)
This was probably one of the best ever Brazilian team. The team boasted big names like Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho.
The Brazilians were captained by their right back – Cafu. Cafu played every minute of every game for the Samba Boys at the World Cup and led his team to World Cup glory.
Brazil played a 3 man defense with Cafu and Roberto Carlos playing as wing backs. Cafu and Carlos provided very good support going forward and as the whole world knows were rock solid at the back.
Lucio was the heart of the central defense, the former Inter Milan star, started and played every minute of every game during the World Cup. His defensive partners were former Barcelona man Edmilson and former Milan man Roque Junior.
In between the sticks was Silveira Reis who kept the legendary Dida on the bench throughout the tournament.
Brazil conceded just 4 goals over all, with 2 of them coming in a 5-2 win over Costa Rica in a group stage game which was irrelevant to Brazil’s qualification to the next round as they had already topped the group.
Goal Keeper: Silveira Reis
Right Back: Cafu
Left Back: Roberto Carlos
Center Backs: Lucio, Edmilson and Roque Junior
#2 Arsenal (2003-04)
This very season will forever be etched in the minds of Arsenal fans all over the world. Even fans of other clubs will remember this season for its uniqueness.
The Gunners finished the season without a single defeat in the league. This is a considerable achievement, considering the immense competition in the Premier League and the number of fixtures. They were awarded a golden premier league trophy for this achievement.
In between the sticks for Arsenal was German keeper Jens Lehmann. Lehmann joined Arsenal from Dortmund prior to the beginning of the season replacing the club’s iconic goal keeper David Seaman. The German proved to be a more than able replacement for the former England International. He kept 15 clean sheets for Arsenal that season and conceded just 26 goals.
Arsenal had a defense with an optimum mixture of youth and experienced campaigners. At the heart of the defense was Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure. Toure was also nominated for the young player of the year award that season for his performance, but lost to Scott Parker.
The full back positions were occupied by Ashley Cole and Lauren Mayer of Cameroon. What is interesting is that 3 out of the 4 who played a major role in defense for them that season left together at the end of the 2005-06 season. Maybe it was such a drastic change in the backline at the same time that caused a whole lot of trouble for Arsenal after 2005-06.
Goal Keeper: Jens Lehmann
Right Back: Lauren Mayer
Left Back: Ashley Cole
Center Backs: Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure
#3 Chelsea (2004-2006)
Jose Mourinho took the managerial position at Chelsea prior to the beginning of the 2004-05 season after winning the Champions League with Porto the previous season. Expectations were very high when Mourinho took over and the Portuguese lived up to it.
Although Mourinho failed to give Abrahimovic the most coveted Champions League during his first stint at Stamford Bridge, he managed to win back to back Premier League titles.
For Jose Mourinho, it is very important that his team defends well. He is often seen unhappy after matches when his team has conceded too many goals even though they won the game. Most recently after Chelsea’s 5-3 win over Everton this season, Mourinho wasn’t very happy about the 3 goals that Chelsea conceded.
In his first season in England Mourinho lost just one game and drew eight. More importantly his team conceded just 15 goals in 38 games. Mourinho did this despite having to play William Gallas out of position at left-back for majority of the season due to an injury to Wayne Bridge.
Paulo Ferreira who followed Mourinho from Porto to Chelsea was the first choice right back ahead of Glen Johnson. But it was the central defensive partnership between John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho that caught the eye of many around the world. The duo seemed to have a telepathic connection between them.
Mourinho also brought in Petr Cech during his first season. Cech kept an astonishing 21 clean sheets which included a run of 10 continuous games without conceding a goal in the league.
John Terry and Petr Cech were both included in the PFA team of the year in the 2004-05 season.
Chelsea’s fine defensive form continued into the next season as they conceded just 22 goals in the league. Terry and Carvalho continued to play in central defense with Gallas shifting to right back and Spaniard Asier Del Horno playing as left back. Paulo Ferreira and Robert Huth proved to be able backups as well.
Goal Keeper: Petr Cech
Right Back: Paulo Ferreira
Left Back: William Gallas
Center Backs: John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho
#4 Italy (2006 World Cup)
The Italian side was captained by central defender Fabio Cannavaro. Cannavaro was awarded the Ballon d’Or award after leading his side to a World Cup victory. Cannavaro was the only defender to win the award after Franz Beckenbauer won it in 1976.
Italy were grouped with Ghana Czech Republic and The United States. They won two and drew one of their group stage matches and conceded just one goal which was against the United States in a 1-1 draw.
The backbone of the Italian defense consisted of captain Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta while Zaccardo, Grosso and Zambrotta alternated between themselves for the two full back positions. Unsurprisingly Gianluigi Buffon started and finished all of Italy’s games during the World Cup.
An injury to Nesta in the final group stage game brought Marco Materazzi into the starting eleven for the knockout stage fixtures. Materazzi was sent off in the round of 16 game against Australia and Andrea Barzagli started in his place during the quarter finals. Materazzi returned to the starting eleven for the semifinals.
During the semifinal it was left back Fabio Grosso’s goal in the 119th minute of the game, which was towards the end of extra time that broke the deadlock and gave Italy the win over hosts Germany in a tense game. Italy did very well to contain the Germans on home soil. The Germans reached the semifinals after scoring 11 goals. Italy reached the final having just conceded goal and that too in the above mentioned group stage game.
The Italians were trailing in the final after the 9th minute when the French took the lead through a Zidane penalty. Italy equalized through center back Materazzi.
Italians won the game after a penalty shootout and both Materazzi and Grosso scored from the spot. It was Grosso’s 5th and final kick for Italy that sealed the game.
An injury to Nesta may have proved to be the turning point of the World Cup as it drew Materazzi into the team. And it is well known that Materazzi played a huge hand in getting Zidane sent off in the final of the tournament.
Goal Keeper: Gianluigi Buffon
Right Back: Cristian Zaccardo
Center Back: Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi
Left Back: Fabio Grosso
#5 AC Milan (2006-07)
The season had its ups and downs for Milan as they started with a penalty of 8 points in the league and failed to win a game for 9 matches in a row. Milan could only finish 4th that season, but it was enough to gain qualification for the Champions League next season.
They conceded just 36 goals, which was just 3 more than Lazio’s tally, who had the league’s best defensive record.
Despite this Milan went on to win lift the Champions League that season by defeating Liverpool in the final 2-1.
The Milan squad for that season consisted of some of the best defenders in the last two decades. They were captained and commanded by none other than Paulo Maldini. Other notable names in defense were Alessandro Nesta, Cafu, Kakha Kaladze and Marek Jankulovski. In goal for the Italian side was Brazilian international Dida. The massive 6 ft 5 in figure alone was enough to keep the ball out of the net on most occasions.
Milan’s defense throughout Ancelloti’s tenure as manager was very impressive, but this one stands out as they won the Champions League that season.
Goal Keeper: Dida
Right Back: Cafu
Center Backs: Paulo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta
Left Back: Marek Jankulovski
#6 Manchester United (2007-09)
Manchester United reached the final of the Champions League during these two seasons and lifted the cup in 2008 and lost to Barcelona in 2009. In addition to this they won the league and the community shield in both the seasons and won the league cup and club world cup in the 2008-09 season.
During the 2007-08 season, United conceded just 22 league goals and 6 goals in 13 matches in the Champions League. They also kept clean sheets in both legs of the semi-final against Barcelona in the Champions League.
During the 2008-09 season, they conceded just 24 goals in the league and 8 goals in 13 matches in the Champions League. 2 of the 8 goals United conceded came against Barcelona in the final.
This period established Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic as one of the best defensive duo in the Premier League. Patrice Evra was the undisputed left back for majority of the games throughout both the seasons and Edwin van der Sar was the first choice keeper. An injury to Gary Neville which kept him out for the 2007-08 season meant that Wes Brown and John O’Shea had to alternate between playing as right back and being the back up to the first choice center backs.
In the 2008-09 season, Van der Sar, Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra continued to be first choices for their positions. The emergence of Rafael gave competition to Gary Neville for the right back spot.
Jonny Evans also broke into the squad that season and he started 16 games for United in the league, John O’Shea played as a right back or as defensive midfielder and Wes Brown started just 7 games overall.
Goal Keeper: Edwin van der Sar
Right Back: Wes Brown
Center Backs: Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand
Left Back: Patrice Evra
#7 Internazionale (2008-10)
Another defensive unit coached by Jose Mourinho. Jose Mourinho emphasizes on good defenses and he proved it again with Internazionale during his stint there. He won the league in his first season and won the treble in his second and final season with Inter.
In his first season at Inter his team conceded 32 league goals and in his second season the number rose to 34.
Walter Samuel, Lucio, Maicon, Cristian Chivu, Maxwell, Ivan Cordoba, Javier Zanetti and Julio Cesar were the defensive pillars at Inter during Mourinho’s reign. All these players were at the peak of their careers during this period, which means most of them were in their late twenties or early thirties when Mourinho took over.
All these players were exceptional when the Portuguese was in charge but gradually faded away after the treble winning season.
Inter kept clean sheets against the likes of Bayern Munich (in the final of the Champions League), Barcelona, Chelsea, AC Milan (twice), Napoli and Juventus during their treble winning season.
Goal Keeper: Julio Cesar
Right Back: Maicon
Center Backs: Walter Samuel and Lucio
Left Back: Cristian Chivu
#8 Spain (2010 World Cup)
Before the World Cup, Spain were among the favourites to win the World Cup, but the Spanish side had underperformed at the big stage every time. When Spain started their World Cup campaign against Switzerland and lost the game 1-0, it looked like history was going to repeat. But the Spanish bounced back with 2 wins in their next two group stage games and topped the group.
It became evident that Spain were not going to score a lot of goals after the World Cup, so it was absolutely necessary that their defense did their job and they did it really well. Spain won all their knockout stage games, including the final with a score line of 1-0!
They were up against the free scoring Portugal, German and Dutch side en route to the cup, but the Spaniards had too much quality at the back to make the mistake they did in the group stage once again.
Vincent Del Bosque started the same back four ahead of Casillas in goal in all the games they played. Sergio Ramos was the right back and was substituted off for Arbeloa in just one group stage game in the 77th minute. Gerard Pique started and finished all the games in center of defense.
The leader in defense and probably the man Spain missed at the 2014 World Cup was Carlos Puyol. Puyol was substituted off in the 84th minute against Paraguay for Carlos Marchena other than that he played every minute of every other game. More importantly Puyol scored the winner against Germany in the semi final. At left back was Joan Capdevilla, he was also the only player in the starting 11 in the final who didn’t play for Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Last but not least – Iker Casillas. Casillas kept Arjen Robben out once with his hand and once with his feet in one on one situations, this was the most important contribution the Spain captain made at the World Cup.
8 goals scored, 2 goals conceded and 5 clean sheets in 8 games was Spain’s record at the end of the World Cup.
Goal Keeper: Iker Casillas
Right Back: Sergio Ramos
Center Backs: Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique
Left Back: Joan Capdevilla
#9 Bayern Munich (2012-13)
Bayern Munich were a treat to watch during their final season under Jupp Heynckes. They were ruthless and devastating going forward. They even put 7 into the Barcelona net in the semifinal of the Champions League that season.
Even though much of the spotlight was on their attack, their defense was equally impressive. Bayern conceded just 18 goals in the Bundesliga as they drew 4 and lost just 1 game out of the 34 league games.
In the Champions League Bayern didn’t concede a goal against Juventus or Barcelona in the quarter final tie and the semifinal tie respectively.
Manuel Neuer was the star in goal for Bayern that season. His performances for Bayern earned him a spot in the FIFAProXI for 2013.
Joining Neuer in the FIFAProXI was captain Philipp Lahm who had a terrific season for Bayern going forward and while doing his duties as a right back. The season was also the breakthrough season for David Alaba. The Austrian won many admirers with his performances as a left back.
Dante and Jerome Boateng started majority of Bayern’s games, with Van Buyten playing as a backup. Holger Badstuber made his return from a long injury that season and played 16 games overall for the club, before he was out injured again.
Goal Keeper: Manuel Neuer
Right Back: Philipp Lahm
Center Backs: Jerome Boateng and Dante
Left Back: David Alaba
#10 Aletico Madrid (2013-14)
Atletico Madrid broke the trend of Real Madrid and Barcelona lifting the La Liga last season. The Madrid side conceded just 26 goals in the league last season, this is one less than the number of goals Diego Costa scored for them in the league.
Atletico kept a clean sheet against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu and kept two clean sheets against Barcelona at the Vincente Calderon.
Diego Simeone was not a fan of squad rotation at the back. He preferred Juanfran at right back, Deigo Godin and Miranda as centerbacks and Filipe Luis as left back. Any change in the back four in a league game or a champions league game was either due to injury or suspension.
In goal was Thibaut Courtois who was on loan from Chelsea. The Belgian won the Zamora trophy last season awarded for the goal keeper with the least goals to game ratio. His performance was so impressive that upon returning to Chelsea this season, he immediately benched Petr Cech who was the undisputed Number 1 at Chelsea for 10 years.
Atletico also reached the final of the Champions League which they would have won if it wasn’t for an incredible header by Sergio Ramos in the dying minutes of normal time. Their road to the final wasn’t an easy one either. They defeated AC Milan, Barcelona & Chelsea, and kept one clean sheet each against these teams.
Goal Keeper: Thibaut Courtois
Right Back: Juanfran
Center Backs: Diego Godin and Miranda
Left Back: Filipe Luis.
