Jose Mourinho hit the headlines with his jibes about Chelsea being "a very defensive team" but the Manchester United manager has been quietly turning his own side into a force to be reckoned with at the back.
The Red Devils' 3-0 victory over Saint-Etienne in the Europa League marked the first time the club has won three consecutive European matches without conceding a goal since November 2010, when Sir Alex Ferguson was in charge.
Chelsea's impenetrable rearguard might have caught Mourinho's attention lately, but United are performing brilliantly at the back by the Portuguese's own standards, becoming the first of his teams to keep five consecutive clean sheets since he achieved that feat with Real Madrid in 2011.
Goalkeeper Sergio Romero has been a key player in United's solid displays in Europe: the 29-year-old has recorded six successive shutouts and has not conceded a goal for the club since Northampton Town's Alex Revell scored a penalty in September 2016.
0 - Man Utd won three consecutive European games without conceding for the first time since Nov 2010 under Sir Alex Ferguson. Advantage.February 16, 2017
‘Milan didn’t collapse against Liverpool in Istanbul. We lost focus for six minutes – for the other 114, we played an extraordinary, beautiful game’: AC legend claims they were 'extraordinary' against Reds in 2005 Champions League final
‘Charlton could have qualified for Europe, but selling Scott Parker to Chelsea made the difference. The manager didn’t want him to go and there was a disagreement’: Former Addicks star highlights key reason why they failed to maintain 2003/04 form
