12 November, 2013 - 15:45

Top 5 defences in European football

Top 5 defences in European football

Some clubs, including the likes of Manchester City, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, represent a real threat to opponents and can boast goal-poaching flair. Others prefer to build on a solid defence to get result. And if it was once the Italian Catenaccio that was incredibly hard to break up, nowadays one can find brilliant back lines in all major championships in Britain and across Europe.

Here is the Top 5 defences in five biggest European leagues (only domestic tournaments are counted).

5. Bayern Munich
0,58 goals/match

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The team is still being renovated under the new manager Pep Guardiola but solid defence that was a benchmark of last season’s performance is there again. Manuel Neuer has only conceded seven goals in twelve matches of Bundesliga so far and the club has not lost a single match since the German Super Cup clash with arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund in July.

4. Tottenham Hotspur
0,54 goals/match

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The squad has had huge changes in the summer with the departure of Gareth Bale and introduction of a number of influential players, such as Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela, Etienne Capoue, Nacer Chadli, Paulinho and Vlad Chiriches. Andre Villas-Boas is yet to find a source of goal-scoring flair, but defending action is truly impressive as The Spurs only conceded six goals in eleven matches. However, after the international break Hugo Lloris will have a tough test from two Manchester sides that might degrade the record.

3. Southampton
0,45 goals/match

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The Saints have been the main newsmakers in the Premier League this season and their incredible autumn run has mainly happened courtesy of brilliant defensive display, introduced by recently appointed coach Mauricio Pochettino. Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc has only got the ball out of the net on five occasions. Trips to Arsenal and Chelsea will tell if Southampton defence is a really hard nut to crack.

2. Lille
0,30 goals/match

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René Girard was not expected to have an easy job after replacing Rudi Garcia who had guided the club for five years. However, not only did he manage to get the Great Danes to the top three in the table, but also created an almost impeccable back line that last capitulated on 15 September. Even the mighty Monaco attack in the names of Radamel Falcao and Emmanuel Rivière had nothing to do with Vincent Enyeama and his guard.

1. Roma
0,25 goals/match

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Rudi Garcia, who arrived in the summer, managed to bring resilience to AS Roma and organize a rock-solid back line headed by experienced Morgan De Sanctis. In the starting ten matches they allowed an unprecedented solitary goal and set the new record by winning the opening ten games of the season. Even though the side slowed down in recent matches, they are still the least conceding side in Europe with only three goals against after twelve games.

photo: getty images

Read also:
Top 5 Premier League young players

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Author: Leon Smolski

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