Courtois: the goalkeeper who got his revenge with saves worth a Champions League

The saving hands of Thibaut Courtois have allowed Real Madrid to lift the fourteenth Champions League. The goalkeeper appeared with all the magnitude of him to avoid goals from Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and all of Liverpool. Hands to hands, shots from outside and even rebounds, the goalkeeper was attentive to all that.

Courtois has been wearing the white shirt since 2018 and in his fourth season he had to celebrate the Champions League by being a figure in the final in Paris with his 9 saves recorded according to SofaScore, which add to the 56 he already had throughout the tournament. Without a doubt, a wall for Real Madrid.

A goalkeeper who is playing his personal revenge in the Champions League, since in 2014 he played the final with Atlético de Madrid and lost it precisely against the club he defends today, Real Madrid. Situation that has generated controversy in recent days as some statements were misrepresented by the ‘mattress’ fans.

“If you face Real Madrid, you know that when you play in a final, they win it. That’s why I think that now I’m on the right side of history”, he declared, emphasizing that he has more options to win with Real, which was not well taken by Atlético.

Courtois was seconds away from being crowned in that 2014 final, when he won 1-0 with Atlético until the 93rd minute, in which Sergio Ramos scored the white equalizer, which forced the extension where Real sentenced the title with three more goals.

Since that painful final, Courtois’ time in the Champions League has been to forget, despite being in leading clubs. At Chelsea (2014-15) he was eliminated by PSG in the round of 16 and a year later he was unable to play due to injury and the ‘Blues’ fell again to the Parisians in the same instance. For 2017-18, Chelsea did not qualify for the continental tournament and the following campaign fell again in the round of 16, this time against Barcelona.

This is how he made his way to Real Madrid, where he once again experienced consecutive eliminations in the round of 16, against Ajax and City, and reached the semifinals last season. At 30 years old, Courtois takes revenge for what he experienced when he was 22. The Champions League is in his hands.

in this Champions

13 matches

61 saves

1 saved penalty

14 goals conceded

5 games without conceding goals