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David de Gea overcame the “dark moments” that have blighted his time at Manchester United with a coming of age display against Real Madrid.

Danny Welbeck may have scored the vital away goal in United’s 1-1 draw in the Bernabeu, but it was the heroics of De Gea that earned Sir Alex Ferguson’s side the huge result.

De Gea made several crucial saves against Jose Mourinho’s side, his assured display arguably his best for United, having he copped flak for some costly high-profile blunders this season.

The Red Devils' goalkeeping coach, Eric Steele, who has been watching De Gea since the Spaniard was 16, paid tribute to the 22-year-old’s ability and strength of character following his exploits against Real.

Steele was honest enough to admit De Gea has struggled at times during his 19-month spell at United, but said the young keeper retained the faith of Ferguson, his players and the coaching staff.

“David might have dark moments but I think he keeps them away from the training ground and away from when he is preparing for games,” said Steele.

“If he is hurt he doesn’t show it. We teach him that the calmest man of the field has to be the goalkeeper.

(Image: Jasper Juinen)

“The one thing he has got is a fantastic inner strength. Any criticism literally flies off that quiff he has – in Spanish we call it cresta cabeza.

“He knew the change was going to be difficult. You bring a boy into the Premier League at 20 it’s not easy.

“But he’s 22 and has played in about 170 first-team games now [for United and Atletico Madrid].

“He’s won the Europa League, he’s played in big big games. He’s not inexperienced but what he isn’t experienced at his dealing with the varied performances you need in the Premier League.

“Trust me, if you worked with him day by day, then you’d see he’s very mature for his age and will only get better.

“He’s learning in the toughest environment in the world in the Premier League plus the Champions League.”

Steele, who brought De Gea to Ferguson’s attention, said the United boss was determined not make the same mistake he did which saw him miss out on Petr Cech back in 2004.

Cech was on United’s radar but Chelsea got there first, signing the then 21-year-old, a mistake Steele said Ferguson did not want to make again, which is why they moved quickly for De Gea.

“To be fair to the manager, he missed out on Cech when he was younger and didn’t want to do this again,” said Steele. “There weren’t too many [keepers around]. Joe Hart was the other one.

“The manager just said ‘if this guy is as good as we think he is and we’ve scouted him strongly then we don’t want to miss out on him, like we did with Cech’.”

Following Edwin van der Sar was always going to be tough for De Gea, whose moments of brilliance have been interspersed with the odd clanger and difficulties in dealing with crosses.

But Steele said De Gea’s rare shot-stopping ability and huge long-term potential meant it was worth persevering with him, despite the occasional blip he may suffer.

“If you play for United, you’re young, following a legend and been brought in from another country, it’s difficult,” said Steele.

“But as long as he knows the faith that’s going to be shown in him by myself, the manager, the coaching staff and the rest of the players, then that’s all he needs.

“There are some things he has to learn but he has the backing of people at the football club and so long as he has that he will continue to develop and become the big goalkeeper for the biggest club.”

Steele admitted De Gea has struggled to adapt to the physicality of the Premier League and the different qualities required to La Liga, where there are not as many crosses for keepers to deal with.

(Image: Getty)

“We knew he had to go to places like Stoke, Birmingham and Wolves,” said Steele. “It’s the variation and that’s what he’s having to learn.

“Each week in the Premier League is a different challenge. So of course he’s had to learn. He’s still growing physically and he works hard on that.”

Steele picked out De Gea’s fifth-minute save from Fabio Coentrao, in which the United keeper got a fingertip to the ball, diverting it on to a post and away to safety, as the pick of the bunch.

“That’s the one,” said Steele. “If we go 1-0 down to Real Madrid after five minutes at the Bernabeu, that makes things a lot harder.

“He saw it very late, one of the boys might have been offside in front of him, but he got his finger to it.

“Some may have had the anticipation, he had the speed of the first step movement and the great long reach he has and got enough on it.

“That is how thin the dividing line is with goalkeepers. That’s why you can be a hero one minute and zero the next.”

De Gea, whose English is improving with twice-weekly lessons, said: “I was a bit unsighted and saw it arrive late, but I was lucky enough to get there and it went onto the post, so I was happy with that save.

“Any save is important to help the team get a draw like that in such a complicated match and I’m happy with my performance.”

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