It’s been 20 years since we last reached our first UEFA Champions League final – a run that saw us set a defensive record that still stands today and continues to inspire our current crop of defensive stars.
Our 2006 vintage kept a remarkable 10 clean sheets in a row, inspiring us to knock out Real Madrid, Juventus and Villarreal to reach the final in Paris.
As that record still sits at the top of the pile in UCL history, our 2025/26 backline has been showcasing its shutout skills this season and that could be a key factor in our bid to reach Budapest.
HOW WE MADE HISTORY
When Markus Rosenberg netted in the 71st minute on September 27, 2005, in our 2-1 win against Ajax, few would have predicted the next goal we’d concede would be 232 days later, in the Champions League final.
The run kicked off with four straight clean sheets against Sparta Prague, FC Thun and Ajax to close out the group stage in top spot – setting up a date with Real Madrid in the round of 16.
We produced a fine defensive display across both legs, with Thierry Henry’s incredible solo goal sending us through to face Juventus in the last eight.
Cesc Fabregas and Henry netted in a 2-0 win in the first leg before another brave display in Turin made it eight in a row.
Those two clean sheets helped us break the consecutive clean-sheet record, which we then extended with a 1-0 home win at Highbury against Spanish outfit Villarreal.
We needed Jens Lehmann’s heroics in the reverse fixture as he saved Juan Riquelme’s penalty to preserve our 1-0 aggregate lead and reach the final and make it 10 shutouts in a row.
Since that monumental run, only Manchester City have come close to matching it, with seven straight clean sheets in 2020/21.
| Team | Streak | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 10 | 2005/06 |
| Manchester City | 7 | 2020/21 |
| Milan | 7 | 2004/05 |
| Ajax | 6 | 1995/96 |
| Chelsea | 6 | 2007/08 |
| Juventus | 6 | 2016/17 |
| Panathinaikos | 6 | 1995/96 |
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INSPIRED BY THE CLASS OF ’06
Fast forward two decades and our defensive unit has been putting up impressive numbers that can take inspiration from our 2006 side.
We kicked off the league phase with four shutouts against Athletic Club, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague and our semi-final opponents, Atlético de Madrid.
A 3-0 win over Club Brugge was our final clean sheet of a perfect league phase, and since entering the knockouts, we have conceded just one goal in four matches.
That means we’re on eight clean sheets in 2025/26, just two off our own record and the tournament’s record of 10, which is also held by Real Madrid’s 2015/16 side.
| Team | Season | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 2005/2006 | 10 |
| Real Madrid | 2015/2016 | 10 |
| Chelsea | 2020/2021 | 9 |
| Juventus | 2016/2017 | 9 |
| Milan | 2004/2005 | 9 |
| Valencia | 2000/2001 | 9 |
| Arsenal | 2025/2026 | 8 |
With just five goals conceded in the competition so far, we also rank highly for the fewest goals conceded by teams that have reached the semi-finals or further.
| Team | Season | Games | Goals conceded | Stage reached |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | 1993/1994 | 8 | 2 | Final |
| Milan | 1992/1993 | 7 | 2 | Final |
| Ajax | 1995/1996 | 11 | 3 | Final |
| Arsenal | 2005/2006 | 13 | 4 | Final |
| Chelsea | 2020/2021 | 13 | 4 | Final |
| Ajax | 1994/1995 | 11 | 4 | Final |
| Marseille | 1992/1993 | 7 | 4 | Final |
| Arsenal | 2025/2026 | 12 | 5 | Semi-Final* |
| Manchester City | 2020/2021 | 13 | 5 | Final |
| Manchester City | 2022/2023 | 13 | 5 | Final |
| Barcelona | 2005/2006 | 13 | 5 | Final |
| Real Madrid | 1997/1998 | 11 | 5 | Final |
| Manchester United | 1996/1997 | 10 | 5 | Semi-Final |
| Borussia Dortmund | 1997/1998 | 10 | 5 | Semi-Final |
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RAYA TO JOIN THE GREATS?
David Raya has been in sparkling form in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League this season, conjuring up a host of fine stops to help preserve his clean sheets.
Our Spanish stopper has eight clean sheets in 11 matches, which puts him amongst some legendary names for the most in a single season. Only three goalkeepers have kept more clean sheets across a single campaign.
| Player | Club | Season | Clean sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santiago Canizares | Valencia | 2000/2001 | 9 |
| Keylor Navas | PSG | 2015/2016 | 9 |
| Édouard Mendy | Chelsea | 2020/2021 | 9 |
| David Raya | Arsenal | 2025/2026 | 8 |
| Formation | Milan | 2004/2005 | 8 |
| Edwin van der Sar | Ajax | 1994/1995 | 8 |
| Edwin van der Sar | Ajax | 1995/1996 | 8 |
| Oliver Kahn | Bayern Munich | 2000/2001 | 8 |
| Formation | Milan | 2002/2003 | 8 |
| Victor Valdes | Barcelona | 2007/2008 | 8 |
| Jan Oblak | Atlético de Madrid | 2015/2016 | 8 |
| Gianluigi Buffon | Juventus | 2016/2017 | 8 |
| André Onana | Inter | 2022/2023 | 8 |
Since our return to the Champions League in 2023/24, clean sheets have been our currency. No player has kept more in that time than Daivd, who has 18 shutouts to his name. In addition, defenders William Saliba and Gabriel also rank in the top five.
| Player | Clean Sheets |
|---|---|
| David Raya | 18 |
| William Saliba | 15 |
| Yann Sommer | 15 |
| Gabriel Magalhães | 13 |
| Ashraf Hakimi | 13 |
| Marquinhos | 13 |
| Gregor Kobel | 12 |
| Gianluigi Donnarumma | 12 |
| Nico Schlotterbeck | 11 |
| Virgil van Dijk | 11 |
| Willian Pacho | 11 |
Stats provided by OPTA – correct as of 29/04/26
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