When one thinks of the top defences in European football, Serie A has historically been the home of those sides. Premier League giants Manchester City and Liverpool have also had among the best backlines in recent years, while the dominance of Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga makes them a worthy shout.
However, it’s been La Liga that has suddenly seen the rise of the most shutdown defences in all of Europe thus far this 2022-23 season. Granted, they’ve also played one fewer game than other leagues, but the defensive records of the clubs at the top are nonetheless remarkable.
Meanwhile, perennial French powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain are enjoying a real defensive renaissance under new coach Christophe Galtier that has them dominating Ligue 1 once again.
Read on as SBOTOP discusses the three top defences in Europe this 2022-23 season and what has been behind their success.
Barcelona
Barcelona went on a stunning spending spree this summer, with most of the attention unsurprisingly going to their signings in attack. Goal machine Robert Lewandowski was the obvious headliner, while Raphinha was their most expensive signing at a staggering €58m.
However, it should not be overlooked that Barcelona also moved to rebuild their defence. They spent a cool €50m to sign centre-back Jules Kounde from Sevilla, while Andreas Christensen, Marcos Alonso, and Hector Bellerin all arrived from the Premier League on free transfers.
Xavi also made the tough decision to relegate club legends Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba into reserve roles. Meanwhile, he has opted to play Kounde out on the right, with Ronald Araujo in the middle.
Those moves have certainly looked to be quite effective as Barca have by far the best defensive record in Europe on a domestic level. The Catalans have conceded just one goal in their first eight La Liga games and have kept clean sheets in six straight matches.
Granted, Barca may be experiencing a slice of good fortune at the moment. They are overperforming their expected goals allowed (xGA) of 6.0, which, while still quite good – it’s second only to Real Madrid – is slightly overselling just how dominant this defence is.
It’s also worth noting that their amazing defensive solidity has not yet translated to the Champions League, where Barca have lost to top rivals Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.
But still, their dominant defensive displays in the league represent a big step forward for Xavi’s side as they look like legitimate La Liga title contenders once again.
Villarreal
Not far from Barca are Villarreal, who have surrendered just three goals in their eight games thus far. Head coach Unai Emery has built his reputation as one of the best defensive coaches in the game, and he is working wonders once again on a Villarreal side that is not all that different from last year.
While Pau Torres is one of the top up-and-coming centre-backs in Europe at the moment, the other defenders at Emery’s disposal – 37-year-old Raul Albiol, Kiko Femenia, and Alfonso Pedraza – don’t exactly seem like they would comprise over half of a shutdown defence.
Even their central midfielders – Etienne Capoue, Dani Parejo, and Francis Coquelin – are all over 30, which makes you wonder how they have conceded so few goals.
Like Barca, though, Villarreal are also slightly overperforming their xGA, which is 7.1. But it’s still hard to discount the magic of Emery, who just knows how to work with the players at his disposal to construct a well-above-average defence.
The football 2022 odds are high that the Yellow Submarine will have to fall off a bit at some point in the season, but Emery’s men should still be a tough nut to crack throughout.
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain are back to their dominant best in Ligue 1. With the tremendous trio of Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Lionel Messi leading the way in attack, it’s no surprise that PSG are scoring goals for fun, with 28 goals scored already.
But what’s more impressive is that new coach Christophe Galtier has been able to combined that uber-talented attack with a cohesive defence that has prevented opponents from producing too many football 2022 highlights. The Parisians have conceded just five goals through their first 10 games, which is a terrific record.
Galtier has gone with a back three – led by captain Marquinhos, with veteran Sergio Ramos and either Presnel Kimpembe or Danilo Pereira on either side – for virtually the entire season, which has helped solidify their backline. He has also settled on Gigi Donnarumma as the unquestioned No 1 goalkeeper over Keylor Navas, which has brought more stability to the position.
Meanwhile, the arrival of defensive midfielder Vitinha has added some much-needed steel in the middle of the park that was missing last season.
With the sheer talent on display playing in a much more coherent system, there’s no reason to think that PSG’s fine defensive performances will fall away anytime soon.
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