Víctor Valdés Arribas (Spanish: [ˈβiktor βalˈðeis]; born 14 January 1982 in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalonia), is a Spanish football goalkeeper, who plays for Barcelona of the Spanish La Liga. He is the most successful goalkeeper in Barcelona's history, having won 3 La Liga titles, 2 UEFA Champions League titles, and 1 Copa del Rey. He is also one of the few goalkeepers to have played in a European Cup final without conceding a goal. Before joining the principal team in 2002–03 season, Víctor played for the youth teams and Barcelona B. Currently, he has a contract with Barcelona until 2014.He is dating Yolanda Cardona. On 20 August 2009, Cardona gave birth to couple's first child, son Dylan Valdés Cardona at Clínica Dexeus in Barcelona, Spain.
The early part of the 2002–03 season saw him play deputy to Argentine international Roberto Bonano. The arrival of Radomir Antić as the new coach saw regular first team opportunities for him.In the 2003–04 season, he emerged as first-choice goalkeeper, and in the 2004–05 season, he played in almost all of Barcelona's matches helping Barcelona to their first league title in six years. He also won the Zamora Trophy for the best goalkeeper in Spain.
In the 2005–06 season, he helped Barça to the double. He played a big part in Barca's UEFA Champions League 2005–06 title and in the final against Arsenal, he denied Thierry Henry twice from point-blank range. His efforts saw him singled out for praise from Coach Frank Rijkaard. The "Zamora" title however eluded him as Víctor came third after Santiago Cañizares and the winner José Manuel Pinto.On 17 June 2007, the last round in La Liga, Valdés matched a goalkeeping record of Barcelona legend Andoni Zubizarreta. The record held by Zubi is that he went all season long, all 38 rounds in La Liga without leaving the starting line-up nor getting substituted.[3] It has never been matched, by any Barça goalkeeper, until Valdés.
Valdés set the Barça club record for not conceding a goal in European competition with a clean sheet against Rangers on 7 November 2007, which saw him re-write the Barça record books after not conceding a goal for 466 minutes. Unfortunately, Valdés was beaten twice by Lyon' captain Juninho through a 45-yard free kick and a late penalty at the Stade de Gerland ending his streak.[4]On 1 April 2008, Valdés made his 250th appearance for Barça. Despite being a regular in the squad, he has rarely played for Spain, with only three caps and with Iker Casillas of Real Madrid and Pepe Reina of Liverpool being the preferred goalkeepers. During the 2008–09 season, he was the Zamora (La Liga's top goalkeeper) for the second time in his career, beating out the likes of Iker Casillas and Diego López who are among his national team competitors.
On May 27, 2009, Barcelona beat Manchester United 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League Final to complete an unprecedented Treble of La Liga, Champions League, and Copa del Rey. In the match, Valdes made two crucial saves from Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo in both halves. In the first half, he saved a long-range free kick, and in the second half he saved Ronaldo from a tight angle following a low cross from Dimitar Berbatov.
