David de Gea returns to the city of his birth and club where he grew up on Wednesday as Manchester United head to Atletico Madrid in a Champions League clash between two giants that have fallen on hard times.
United sit fourth in the Premier League, 17 points behind local rivals Manchester City, and out of both domestic cup competitions, leaving European glory their only remaining shot at ending a five-year wait to win a trophy.
Yet, not for the first time in the 11 years since the then fresh-faced, skinny Spaniard swapped Madrid for Manchester, De Gea has risen to the challenge of playing in a struggling team.
The fact the 31-year-old has by a distance the most saves of any Premier League goalkeeper this season with 96 is testament to both his form and United’s failure to protect their goal as a team.
De Gea’s stats for outperforming expected goals conceded by nearly 10 goals in 26 games is the best for ‘keepers in Europe’s top five leagues.
A return to the sort of form that earned him United fans’ player of the year four times in five years between 2014 and 2018 looked long gone at the end of last season.
His place even as number one at the club was in danger with Dean Henderson finishing the 2020/21 campaign as the regular starter in the Premier League.