Are there any superlatives left to describe Thibaut Courtois’ performance at Real Madrid? Against Athletic Bilbao, the Red Devil crowned himself “Man of the Match” yesterday by unpacking again with some great saves. Afterwards there was praise from the entire Spanish press, his trainer and even… the opponent.
“Madrid has a saint.”
It appeared in large letters as the title of the main article of the Spanish sports website Marca. Who were they talking about? Thibaut Courtois, of course.
The Belgian goalkeeper proved unbeatable against Bilbao. Courtois, for example, saved the visitors’ lead by stopping a Raul Garcia header with a great dive – see video below. “My most difficult save of the match”, it sounded afterwards.
Although Courtois stood still a few times. “He currently performs two or three miracles per game”, Marca threw even more flowers.
Courtois – along with goalscorer Benzema – was also the number one topic of conversation in the Spanish football talk shows. “Last year, Oblak and Ter Stegen were slightly better than Courtois,” it sounded in a much-watched program. “Now the Belgian has overtaken everyone.”
Thibaut even takes everything in training. Sometimes I tell him to let a ball pass to give the attackers confidence.
For Real coach Carlo Ancelotti, there has long been no discussion about who is the best goalkeeper in the world. “At the moment Thibaut anyway”, the coach nodded at his press conference afterwards. “He takes everything, even in training. (laughs) Sometimes I tell him to let a ball through to give the attackers confidence.”
“Is he the best goalkeeper I ever had? I was lucky enough to work with a lot of great goalkeepers. Casillas, Diego López, Buffon, Cech, Neuer… But he’s one of the best anyway.”
After the match against Bilbao, even fellow goalkeeper Unai Simon praised Courtios in the TV interviews. Everyone in the world knows how rare that is. “There is little recognition for Courtois’s work at Real. They have a lot of stars, but without him they would not have won today.”
