Claudio Bravo, every forward's nightmare

At 31 years of age and with a long sporting career already behind him, Claudio Bravo (Viluco, 1983) has become part of FC Barcelona’s history during his first season between the sticks at the Camp Nou.

The Chilean joined the club in July to little fanfare, but did have an air of assuredness around him having already spent eight league campaigns with Real Sociedad. Six months on from his arrival and he is now this season's Liga BBVA goalkeeper with the fewest goals conceded.

Only Real Madrid CF (on three occasions), UD Almería, RC Celta, Sevilla FC, RCD Espanyol, Real Sociedad and Atlético Madrid have managed to breach his net. Nine goals in 18 matchdays in the topflight, an even lower figure than that recorded by his predecessor, Víctor Valdés, at this same stage last year.

The Catalan keeper, considered 'irreplaceable' by many, had picked the ball out of his net 13 times at this stage of the season. However, a nasty injury coupled with his decision to leave Barcelona forced the club to look for another shot stopper to fill his place in the Azulgrana goal.

21-year-old André Ter Stegen joined the club with a solid reputation based on his promising talent and reliability, but Bravo's statesmanship and experience convinced Luis Enrique to place his trust in the South American to act as the last line of defence. So much is the manager's faith in Bravo that he is the only member of the squad who has played all 1,620 minutes of the league campaign so far.

On top of that, this impressive feat came with a new record. Following the team’s streak of eight undefeated matchdays, the Chilean surpassed Pedro María Artola to become the goalkeeper with the longest clean sheet at the beginning of a Liga BBVA season. The Barca number one played 754 minutes that have gone down in the record books against the likes of Villarreal CF, Athletic Club and Málaga CF, among others.

His next challenge comes this very weekend in Riazor, where the former Colo Colo man will be looking to keep a lid on Hélder Postiga, Iván Cavaleiro and Oriol Riera, Depor's latest signing. The second half of the season begins after that and Bravo will have a chance to better his numbers and write his name into the Barcelona history books.