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#5= Petr Cech, Andrea Consigli, Mickael Landreau – 21 penalties saved
Three goalkeepers also share the #5 spot in this list, having saved 21 penalties during the current century.
Of the three, Premier League fans will naturally recognise the name of Petr Cech more readily. The Czech international was Chelsea’s #1 for over a decade. He won multiple trophies with the Blues, including 4 Premier League titles and the 2012 Champions League.
Widely considered one of the greatest keepers in Premier League history, Cech saved from the likes of Wayne Rooney and Leighton Baines in league action. It was in Europe where his heroics were best-known, though.
He famously stopped a penalty from Arjen Robben in Chelsea’s Champions League final with Bayern Munich. Cech then went onto save two more in the Blues’ victorious shoot-out.
And while he couldn’t help Chelsea to victory in the 2008 Champions League final against Manchester United, he did save from the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo in the eventual penalty shoot-out.
Like Cech, France’s Mickael Landreau hung up his gloves some time ago – in 2014 to be exact. He played for Nantes, Paris St. Germain, Lille and Bastia across his career, putting together a Ligue 1 record of 618 appearances in the process.
The winner of two Ligue 1 titles in the 21st century, Landreau made spot-kick saves from the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Ronaldinho, and Samir Nasri during his career.
Of the three keepers with 21 spot-kick saves, just Italy’s Andrea Consigli remains active today. Sassuolo’s current #1 has made over 400 appearances in Serie A, moving to his current side after spending the best part of 7 seasons as Atalanta’s first choice keeper.
Consigli has made the third-most penalty saves in Serie A history with a total of 19 in the competition, putting him behind only Gianluca Pagliuca and Samir Handanovic.
Both the 2016-17 and 2018-19 campaigns saw him make 4 spot-kick saves, and his lone penalty save in 2017-18 came from the dangerous Mauro Icardi.
#4 Manuel Neuer – 25 penalties saved
Usually described as the original ‘sweeper-keeper’, Manuel Neuer’s reputation precedes him. He’s widely recognised as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, if not of all time, and he’s definitely one of the most decorated.
Across his career – which dates back to his debut in the 2003-04 season with Schalke – he’s won 8 Bundesliga titles and the 2013 Champions League with Bayern Munich and the 2014 World Cup with Germany. He’s also been named as the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper on four occasions, and even came third in the voting for the 2014 Ballon d’Or.
Over the years, Neuer has also marked himself out as a penalty-saving expert, having stopped 25 spot-kicks during his career. He’s saved penalties from tremendous strikers such as Antoine Griezmann, Fernando Torres, and Robert Lewandowski. He also has a great record in penalty shoot-outs.
The 2012 Champions League final shoot-out, for instance, saw him save from Juan Mata, although he couldn’t stop Bayern from eventually losing to Chelsea. And in international action, Neuer famously saved two spot-kicks – including one from Leonardo Bonucci – in Germany’s quarter-final shoot-out with Italy, helping his team to a 6-5 victory.
Given he’s still just 34 years old and has a number of years ahead of him, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Neuer rise up this list even further as time goes on.
#3 Diego Alves – 26 penalties saved
The definition of a penalty-saving expert, Brazilian keeper Diego Alves – currently back in his home country with Flamengo – spent 10 seasons in La Liga with Almeria and Valencia from 2007 to 2017. He was well-regarded as one of the best keepers in Spain during the time period. But it’s his record in dealing with spot-kicks that really marks him out.
Alves has saved 26 penalties in the 21st century, with an incredible 23 of those saves coming in La Liga. The Brazilian famously once stated that a penalty is a “psychological battle” between the keeper and the taker. And clearly, that approach worked for him.
When he saved a spot-kick from Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo in 2015, Alves equalled Andoni Zubizarreta’s record number of penalties saved in La Liga history. That save was also his 16th from 37 penalties. This gave him a penalty save percentage of 43% - meaning he was close to saving as many spot-kicks as he conceded.
And Ronaldo wasn’t the only great denied from the spot by the Brazilian. Alves also saved penalties from the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Diego Costa, Mario Mandzukic, and Lionel Messi.
