Arsenal are one step away from matching an unbelievable Champions League feat

Fair to say, most are expecting Saturday's Champions League final at the Puskás Aréna to be a clash of styles, with Mikel Arteta's team on the cusp of equalling a competition record. Holders Paris Saint-Germain smashed Inter 5-0 in last season's final, scoring 127 goals in 55 matches this season, including a whopping 44 in the Champions League. Les Rouge-et-Bleu netted seven against Bayer Leverkusen, five at home to Tottenham, eight during an aggregate demolition of Chelsea and six over two legs vs Bayern Munich.

Arsenal, on the other hand, have accumulated 32 clean sheets across all competitions, of which 28 have been secured by David Raya, picking up a record-equalling third successive Premier League golden glove.

Meantime, in this season's Champions League, Raya's statistics are off the scale; he boasts the highest save percentage of any goalkeeper in the tournament.

Champions League 2025/26: Goalkeepers highest save %

Note: All statistics courtesy of FBref.

Potentially worth noting that Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Matvey Safonov is only 11th in this ranking. Of the 43 shots on target he has faced, 12 have gone in, making on 31 saves. In contrast, Raya has faced 37 shots on target and produced 33 saves, conceding only to Lennart Karl, Petar Sučić, Robert Andrich and a penalty converted by Julián Álvarez.

This has led to Raya keeping nine clean sheet in the Champions League, one shy of equalling the competition's single-season record, one that Arsenal could match in Budapest. You may though be surprised by who jointly holds this record.

Only three clubs have ever kept ten clean sheets in a Champions League campaign, one of which is Arsène Wenger's side two decades ago. En route to Paris, Jens Lehmann kept ten consecutive clean sheets, still a competition record, going almost 1,000 minutes without conceding, between Markus Rosenberg's goal for Ajax at the Johan Cruijff Arena and Samuel Eto'o's late equaliser in the final.

Also reaching ten shutouts were AC Milan in 1993/94, albeit this includes a pair of two-legged ties before the group stage, overcoming FC Aarau and then København. Back then, only eight clubs reached the group phase, followed by a single-leg semi-final, very different to nowadays.

Real Madrid also won the competition a decade ago with ten clean sheets, beating city rivals Atlético Madrid on penalties at San Siro after a 1-1 draw. So, can Arteta's team reach ten shutouts at the Puskás Aréna on Saturday evening? Well, that certainly won't be easy. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué and Bradley Barcola are all pretty good aren't they?

However, if any back line can contain them, it would be on featuring Gabriel and William Saliba with Raya behind. Looking at those ten clean sheet winners, a repeat of AC Milan's 4-0 trouncing of Barcelona at the Spyros Louis Olympic Stadium in Athens from '94 seems unlikely, but Gooners would certainly settle for the shootout victory Real enjoyed over Atlético Madrid ten years ago.

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