Friday 16 January 2015 13:35, UK
In Victor Valdes, Manchester United have signed one of the most decorated ‘keepers in the game.
Three Champions League triumphs, six La Liga titles plus a couple of Copa del Rey and Club World Cup wins make up just part of his collection.
Here, we take a look at three highlights from the 33-year-old’s career as he begins a new chapter, vying for a starting spot at United with David de Gea…
2006 Champions League final
Of the three Champions League final successes Valdes was part of at Barcelona, it was probably the first, against Arsenal in 2006, when the Spaniard made his biggest game-changing interventions. While Barcelona had a numerical advantage from the 18th minute onwards at the Stade de France after Valdes’ opposite number Jens Lehmann was sent off, the Gunners’ resolve was such that the match hung in the balance right until the closing stages.
Even before Lehmann had seen red, Valdes had twice denied Thierry Henry an opener, once with a smothering save at the feet of the Frenchman and then from a forceful long-range effort. While he could then do nothing about Sol Campbell’s powerful header just before half-time, Valdes kept his side’s hopes alive in the second half with vital stops from Freddie Ljungberg and, once again, Henry. The goalkeeper got his reward in the final 14 minutes of the game as Barcelona struck twice to win - and claim just the club's second-ever European Cup.
Nearly 15 hours without conceding
Valdes left Barcelona last summer having made the fourth-highest number of appearances for the club in their history, his 639 games breaking the previous record for a goalkeeper held by Andoni Zubizarreta. But perhaps the most impressive marker Valdes passed during his time at the Camp Nou was for the most minutes without conceding a goal.
The previous benchmark of 824 minutes had been set in the 1972-73 season by Miguel Reina, father of ex-Liverpool keeper Pepe, but Valdes and his backline surpassed that milestone during their 4-0 away win at Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League Group Stage in November 2011. The record, which still stands, eventually stretched to 896 minutes - when Manchester United's Ander Herrera eventually found a way past Valdes for Athletic Bilbao.
The 2009 treble
Undoubtedly the 2008/09 campaign is the single season which stands out above all others during Valdes’ time between the sticks at the Camp Nou. The treble of Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey represented an unprecedented feat for a Spanish side and Valdes certainly played a fundamental part in the campaign.
While it was his deputy Jose Manuel Pinto who was selected for the domestic cup run, Valdes featured in all but three of the 38 league games and all 13 Champions League ties, conceding just two goals from the quarter-finals onwards as Barcelona dispatched Bayern Munich, Chelsea and fellow finalists Manchester United to secure their place in history.
Watch the video above to see some of Valdes’ best saves.
