David De Gea could equal a club record when Manchester United take on Barcelona in the first leg of the Europa League play-off round.
United will be looking to build on last weekend’s 2-0 Premier League victory over Leeds when they visit the Nou Camp to take on Barcelona, a club they have not beaten since 2008.
The Catalan giants find themselves in the Europa League knockout rounds for the second season in succession, after finishing behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan in their Champions League group.
Meanwhile, 15 years after their Champions League triumph, United have had to accustom themselves to the rigours of Europa League football.
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The Old Trafford club are competing in the competition for the sixth time in 12 seasons.
The relative decline of both clubs has led to a heavy-weight Europa League contest, that was once a Champions League final billing.
And if selected De Gea could make United history by equalling a record that has stood for 24 years.
Man Utd's clean sheet record
Peter Schmeichel’s long-standing clean-sheets record is now within De Gea’s grasp.
Schmeichel kept 180 clean sheets across his Old Trafford career, a record he has held since leaving the club in 1999.
However, after 12 seasons and 519 appearances for United De Gea is now just one shut-out away from equaling the great Dane's record and two away from breaking it.
Indeed, it had been reported in some quarters that De Gea had already drawn level with Schmeichel’s 180 clean sheets.
The confusion boils down to a match between United and Arsenal in 2015, when De Gea picked up an injury and was replaced by compatriot Victor Valdes after 64 minutes.
While United were 1-0 up at the time of De Gea’s departure, statistical experts Opta do not count this as a clean sheet.
Keepers must complete a match to claim a clean sheet, which is a metric United follow for their official records.
Topics: Football, David De Gea, Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United, Barcelona, Europa League
Chris Byfield