By Amanda Langell
A clean sheet in soccer is one of the best and hardest ways to silence an opponent on the pitch and on the score sheet.
Each soccer team has their own identity when they step on the field. Some teams thrive on maintaining possession and pushing forward, constantly in control and on the attack, while others opt to defend heavily and capitalize on the counter attack. No matter the play style, though, the end goal is always the same— to win.
Winning against the toughest opponents in the world require all 11 players to effectively do their jobs for 90 minutes. On days when some players do not rise to the occasion, the best goalkeepers in the world, like Ederson and Thibaut Courtois, must anchor their team and prevent the other side from running away with the match.
When all else fails, improbable saves can change the momentum in a soccer game, and keeping a clean sheet is the ultimate prize.
What is a clean sheet in soccer?
A clean sheet in soccer is when a team does not concede any goals in a match. If the goalkeeper and the defense successfully keep the other team from scoring, then they kept a clean sheet.
Holding an opponent to zero goals is an ideal way to help secure a win. In fact, the last five winners of the Champions League kept clean sheets in the final. Manchester City, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Liverpool all hoisted the most coveted title in Europe after holding the opposition scoreless.
In domestic games, a team who keeps a clean sheet in a match will always leave with at least one point. Plus, the likelihood of claiming all three points is much higher if the opponent fails to score.
On a week-to-week basis, though, even the best teams and goalkeepers in the world struggle to keep clean sheets. At the highest level of competition, goal scoring often feels inevitable, especially with the star power sweeping all five European soccer leagues.
This article was originally published on 90min.com as What is a clean sheet in soccer?.
