Watch: Yet another ‘Dave saves’ masterclass from Manchester United’s De Gea

For Manchester United and its large legion of fans, it was yet another familiar tale: A David de Gea masterclass saved them from an embarrassment. The worrying thing about this – for United and the opposition strikers – is that these wonder saves are coming at an alarming rate.

On Wednesday night at San, United played their first Champions League knockout game since 2014 at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium. Under severe pressure for large spells during the game against a Sevilla side desperate to seize momentum in the tie, De Gea made at least three world class saves to deny the Spaniards.

The 26-year-old has made it a habit of winning the Premier League’s ‘Save of the Season’ award with each passing year. His inspirational performance against Arsenal at Emirates last year was hailed by many a football pundit as one of the the greatest goalkeeping displays of all time. In that game, he recorded the most number of saves made in a single match in Premier League history.

Joaquin Correa and Steven N’Zonzi’s fine efforts were easily thwarted, but the highlight of the game was Luis Muriel’s header from point-blank range, which De Gea tipped over the bar. The save would also go on to produce the defining image from the contest: A crestfallen Muriel clutching his face near the goalpost, and later congratulating the Spanish no 1 for what he pulled off. Whether United go on to progress to the next round or not, there will be little surprise *this* save is declared as the Save of the Season of this Champions League season.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to De Gea’s performance. Needless, to say, some of the goalkeeper’s current and former teammates also joined the praise:

Here’s one way to describe De Gea:

United legend Rio Ferdinand once revealed that he had his reservations of a young De Gea when he first came to the Premier League:

De Gea has been consistently breaking records between the sticks: