Five games, five clean sheets, two completely different competitions. Argentina's back line has not been beaten in five international friendlies, while in Colombia, Atlético Nacional have matched that run in the Copa Colombia. Both streaks are intact right now, and both are backed by numbers that go well beyond the scoreline.
Argentina: barely a shot worth worrying about
Argentina have conceded just 0.06 expected goals per game across their five clean sheets in International Friendly Games. That is not a defence riding its luck through a string of low-quality chances conceded and then scrambled away. It is a defence that is barely allowing the opposition to generate anything at all. Five matches, zero goals against, and an attacking side rarely troubled enough to log a shot of real threat.
Atlético Nacional: tighter, and under more pressure
Atlético Nacional's run looks similar on the surface, five clean sheets in five Copa Colombia outings, but the underlying picture is a little different. Their 0.19 xG conceded per game is more than three times Argentina's figure, meaning the Colombian side have had to do more actual defending to keep their sheet clean each time out. Five shutouts built on a tougher workload say just as much about a defence as five shutouts built on near-total control.
Two routes to the same number
Put side by side, the pair offer a useful contrast in what a clean-sheet streak can mean. Argentina's number points to a team suffocating opponents before they even get a sight of goal. Atlético Nacional's points to a back line and goalkeeper combining to deal with recurring, if not high-value, pressure and still finding a way through unbeaten at the back. Different competitions, different opposition, same bottom line: nobody has scored on either of them in five straight matches.
Streaks like these tend to get tested eventually. For now, both defences are the ones setting the terms.