THE DEBUT CAME in Athens in September 1999. A UEFA Champions League Group E clash with Olympiacos.
It was quite eventful with Real Madrid forced to grab a goal ten minutes from time to ensure a 3-3 draw.
For the 18-year-old Iker Casillas, it was a baptism of fire but he ended the season as a champion – claiming the first of his three Champions League winners medals.
Since then, he has racked up the silverware and personal accolades and established himself as one of the game’s best ever goalkeepers.
And even after his traumatic exit from the Bernabeu in 2015, he continues to play at the highest level of European football at the age of 35 and continues to smash records too.
Tonight, he makes his 175th appearance in a UEFA club competition, breaking the previous record held by Paolo Maldini, as his current employers FC Porto take on Juventus in their Champions League Round of 16 second-leg tie.
168 of those appearances have come in UEFA’s elite tournament.
There have been rumblings that Casillas could retire at the end of the current campaign so tonight may very well be his last European assignment.
