10 Best Goalkeeping Performances In Champions League History After Liverpool Star Alisson’s Heroics Against PSG

Liverpool star Alisson Becker produced one of the best goalkeeping performances in Champions League history in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against PSG.

Alisson’s brilliance in goal.

The Brazilian kept out the likes of Ousmane Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia  – before Harvey Elliott came off the bench and scored with his first touch in the 87th minute.

But where does Alisson’s performance rank alongside other top goalkeeping performances in Champions League history? Here, we rank our top ten.

10 Best Goalkeeping Performances In Champions League History

10. Alisson

Liverpool 2-0 Tottenham – 2019 Champions League Final

The 2019 Champions League final is not ed fondly but what is often forgotten about is Alisson’s excellent performance on that night.

Real Madrid in the 2018 final.

Alisson showed why Liverpool spent £67m on him, making eight saves in the final against Tottenham.

He thwarted the likes of  Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-min, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane. Before Divock Origi sealed the victory after Mohamed Salah’s early penalty.  – as Tottenham searched for an equaliser.

9. Petr Cech

Barcelona 2-2 Chelsea – 2012 Champions League Semi-Final

Petr Cech provided an inspired performance to help Chelsea reach the 2012 Champions League final.

The Blues were in serious trouble after goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta put Barcelona ahead either side of John Terry’s red card for violent conduct.

With Roberto Di Matteo’s side down to 10 men, Cech produced several huge saves to keep Barcelona to just two goals on the night.

He was rewarded as goals from Ramires and Fernando Torres sent Chelsea to the final. Cech would then go on to produce another of the greatest goalkeeping performances in Champions League history.

8. Gianluigi Buffon

Juventus 0-0 AC Milan (2-3 on penalties) – 2003 Champions League Final

The 2003 Champions League final between Juventus and AC Milan was far from a classic.

Gianluigi Buffon ended up on the losing side but he showed why he was the best goalkeeper in the world at that time.

His diving save from a Filippo Inzaghi header is one of the best in Champions League history.

He continued to keep the Rossoneri at bay with a tremendous performance to take Juventus to a penalty shootout.

Buffon saved penalties from Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze but it wasn’t enough to stop AC Milan from lifting the trophy.

This Buffon save from Inzaghi was unreal pic.twitter.com/BTscSQU3jL

— Former Footballers (@FinishedPlayers) February 10, 2025

7. Joe Hart

Barcelona 1-0 Manchester City – 2015 Champions League Last-16

Joe Hart produced one of the best goalkeeping performances in Champions League history despite Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Barcelona.

The former England international made ten saves, doing his best to keep City in the tie.

Five of the ten shots came from inside City’s area, while Hart made one-on-one saves from Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

City lost 3-1 on aggregate but Lionel Messi branded Hart as a ‘phenomenon’.

Notoriously harsh L’Equipe even gave him a 9/10 rating, as per Man City’s official website. The French publication described Hart’s performance as “one of the finest Champions League performances by a goalkeeper for a long time”.

6. Alisson

PSG 0-1 Liverpool – 2025 Champions League Last-16

Alisson’s incredible 10/10 performance against PSG comes in at No 8 on our list of best goalkeeping displays in Champions League history.

The Brazilian made nine saves – the most on record by a Liverpool goalkeeper in the Champions League.

After the game, the Liverpool shot-stopped itted: “It was the performance of my life.”

If Liverpool go on to win this competition, fans will look back to Alisson’s performance against PSG. Much like they do with his save against Napoli which kept them in the Champions League in the year they went on to win it.

Sit back and enjoy the Alisson masterclass from tonight 🍿

All the saves from a memorable night for the Reds. pic.twitter.com/H3DPCC21M8

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2025

5. Keylor Navas

PSG 1-1 Barcelona – 2021 Champions League Last-16

PSG were expected to cruise into the quarter-finals after beating Barcelona 4-1 in the first-leg.

However, if it wasn’t for Keylor Navas, Barcelona might have produced another miracle comeback against the French side.

The Costa Rica goalkeeper produced a stunning display with 10 saves on the night.

His most important save was to deny future team-mate Lionel Messi from the penalty spot.

An honourable mention for this list is Navas’ first-leg display against Bayern Munich in the next round. Navas made 10 saves to ensure a 3-2 victory.

4. Manuel Neuer

Schalke 0-1 Porto (4-1 on penalties) – 2008 Champions League Last-16 

Manuel Neuer has produced many stunning performances in the Champions League for Bayern Munich.

However, arguably his best came during his time at Schalke back in the last-16 of the competition in 2008.

Though Schalke lost in 90 minutes, Neuer made 11 saves in an incredible performance to take the tie to a penalty shootout.

He would save penalties from Bruno Alves and Lisandro Lopez allowing Schalke to win 4-1 in the shootout.

His save from Tarik Sektioui from point-blank range is one of the greatest in the legendary goalkeeper’s career.

3. Fraser Forster

Celtic 2-1 Barcelona – Champions League Group Stage 2012-13

Perhaps a name you wouldn’t have expected to feature in the list for best goalkeeping performances in Champions League history.

Lionel Messi described Fraser Forster as ‘not human’ after his incredible performance for Celtic against Barcelona in the group stage back in 2012.

Forster told talkSPORT that Messi even wanted Barcelona to sign him after Celtic’s 2-1 victory.

The goalkeeper, who also produced some top saves in the reverse fixture at the Nou Camp, was like a brick wall making an incredible 13 saves.

Barcelona lost despite having 89% possession and having 955 total es compared to Celtic who had just 166.

2. Thibaut Courtois

Real Madrid 1-0 Liverpool – 2022 Champions League Final

Liverpool have lost two Champions League finals in the last seven years – and both matches were won by goalkeepers for completely different reasons.

Loris Karius gifted Real Madrid the win in 2018 while Thibaut Courtois won it for Los Blancos in 2022 with one of the finest goalkeeping performances in Champions League history.

Courtois was unstoppable making nine saves to deny the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane.

His best save was from Mane when he tipped the shot off the post.

He was named man of the match as Real Madrid won the trophy for a 14th time and Jurgen Klopp famously recalled: “That f***** Courtois had 12 hands.”

1. Petr Cech

Chelsea 1-1 Bayern Munich (4-3 on penalties) – 2012 Champions League Final

Petr Cech talking about the 2012 Champions League final shoot-out.

“I’ve seen every penalty Bayern had since 2007.” 😯

pic.twitter.com/9MovyXwLay

— Archives (@CFCRetro) December 15, 2023

Our choice for the best goalkeeping performance in Champions League history is Petr Cech’s display for Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Chelsea were up against it, as Bayern Munich took the lead in a final which was held in the German side’s home city.

However, Cech didn’t read the script as he made a number of outstanding saves before Didier Drogba took the game to extra-time.

He saved Arjen Robben’s penalty in extra-time, before denying Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ivica Olic in the following penalty shootout to help Chelsea win the competition for the first time.