Replacing Victor Valdés in between the posts was never going to be an easy task, nevertheless, Claudio Bravo in the league and Marc-André ter Stegen in the Cup and the Champions League have been more than up to the job and have both performed admirably this season. The Chilean keeper is on the verge of claiming the Zamora Trophy, awarded to the goalkeeper with the best record in the Spanish First Division, after conceding just 19 goals in 37 league games. That itself is an impressive defensive record, the best since Deportivo La Coruña conceded just 18 in the season 1993/94.
Bravo’s statistics
During the course of the season Claudio Bravo has broken various records such as the 754 minutes unbeaten at the start of the season, moving past the previous best set by Pello Artola in the season 1977/78. Furthermore, Bravo has become this season the keeper who has registered most clean sheets in a league campaign. Presently his record stands at 23, with one game still to come, beating the record previously set of 20 by Victor Valdés in 2004/05 and 2008/09 and Andoni Zubizarreta in the season 1988/89.
The Chilean international has conceded an average of just 0.51 goals per game, a figure that is the third best in the history of the league. He sits behind only Paco Liaño who with Deportivo La Coruña in 1993/94 conceded just 0.47 goals per game and Victor Valdés who conceded an average of 0.5 goals per game in 2010/11 in the 32 games in which he played. There is no denying that Claudio Bravo is just a step away on Saturday from a more than deserved Zamora Trophy.
