Few nations in the world can acknowledge the kind of depth that Italy has created when it comes to goalkeepers, the peninsula offering some of the finest stoppers that the game has ever seen.
From Il Grande Torino to the strong Milan teams that dominated the early 1990s, the most prominent Italian teams have always boasted a top-class goalkeeper, with the national team benefiting immensely from this seemingly endless talent development line.
If you thought of Gianluigi Buffon as the greatest Italian goalkeeper in history, in truth, we can say you were right in terms of the number of clean sheets won. Taking into account the number of clean sheets he has earned, he tops the list of all-time best Italian goalkeepers, but as already described, that’s not the only reason.
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In fact, if we are to list the greatest Italian goalkeepers in history based on their goals-conceded-to-appearance ratio, then another top Italian goalkeeper will top the list.
1) Gianluigi Buffon (296 Clean Sheets):
Gianluigi Buffon is also the first goalkeeper on the list who is still in the business. He is currently representing his old club, Juventus, who between 2001 and 2018 he represented once for 17 years. As we discussed above, among the greatest Italian goalkeepers in history, Buffon has won the cleanest sheets, and since he is still in the business, he can also improve his record.
In fact, Buffon made 652 appearances for Italian clubs, Parma and Juventus, from 1995 to this date, indeed within Serie A, and gained 296 clean sheets during this period and conceded 532 goals.
2) Dino Zoff (276 Clean Sheets):
And here’s the legendary Italian goalkeeper we were talking about at the beginning of the post: Dino Zoff, and, as already reported, on the list of the best Italian goalkeepers in history, he’s got the best goals-to-appearance ratio.
The ratio actually comes from the 430 goals Zoff conceded in the 565 appearances that he made, and maybe to your astonishment, it is the best ratio on the list.
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3) Enrico Albertosi (237 Clean Sheets):
Enrico Albertosi, the third goalkeeper on the list of the best Italian goalkeepers in history, is an 81-year-old former Italian goalkeeper who, in his career, has managed to win 237 clean sheets.
In all the 530 appearances that he made during his career, Albertosi actually conceded 431 goals. That actually gives him a 0.81 goal-conceded-to-appearance ratio that is similar to Gianluigi Buffon’s.
2) Giovanni Galli (211 Clean Sheets):
Giovanni Galli is a 62-year-old former Italian goalkeeper who represented, throughout his career, six Italian clubs, namely Fiorentina, AC Milan, Napoli, Torino, Parma and Lucchese.
In the 496 appearances he made overall during his career, Galli indeed conceded 445 goals. That gives him a goals-conceded-to-appearance ratio of 0.89, meaning that in every appearance he made, the retired Italian goalkeeper conceded 0.89 goals or, in other words, 3.5 goals in every 4 appearances.
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1) Gianluca Pagliuca (194 Clean Sheets):
Gianluca Pagliuca, a 53-year-old former Italian goalkeeper who represented four Italian clubs, Sampdoria, Inter Milan, Bologna, and Ascoli, during a 20-year career that lasted from 1987 to 2007, is the fifth goalkeeper on the list of best Italian goalkeepers in history.
Pagliuca is also the first goalkeeper on the list of best Italian goalkeepers in history who conceded more than 1 goal (actually 1.1) in every appearance that he made during his career.
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