Life smiles on Thibaut Courtois. He has just won his first league as a goalkeeper for Real Madrid (he already won one with Atleti) And he has done so as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals scored in the competition, with 20 goals conceded in 34 games (an average of 0.59 goals per game; the next, Oblak, goes to 0.71). His start to the season was dubious, he received six goals in the first four days of LaLiga and heard whistles in the draw against Bruges at home. Mallorca scored its lowest point (one shot, one goal, and white defeat), From there he was reborn and now he reaches the Champions League with the desire to settle an outstanding account.
Few rivals have been given to Courtois as badly as Manchester City: he has played eight times against the celestial team, with four defeats, two draws and two victories. It only has the worst loss percentage (in teams against which it has been measured more than once) with a team: Real Madrid itself (67%), statistics dragged from his times as rojiblanco. He has visited Etihad three times, with a victory (1-3), a draw (1-1) and a loss (1-0). At home, it did not fare much better: three losses, one draw and one victory.
He always fit against City
And the worst news: he always conceded goals against City, in the seven games he played against them playing for Chelsea and in the first leg of these knockout stages of the Champions League (1-2). Two important handicaps in the white mission, that is, achieving the comeback to be in the Final to Eight in Lisbon. Madrid need to win and score more than one goal; if City scores, the Whites should go to three goals, so many of Madrid's options go through drying the citizen attack.
A complicated mission, for various reasons. Ramos, sanctioned after seeing the red card in the first leg, will not be in Etihad, so the defense will be made up of Carvajal, Militao, Varane and Mendy or Marcelo (depending on how brave Zidane feels). And even with the locker room leader on the field, holding City back in attack is no small matter: he has scored 102 goals in the Premier, 17 more than Liverpool, who has taken the title. In all competitions, Pep's have scored 147 goals in 57 games, an average of 2.6 goals per match.
The fourth highest rated goalkeeper
His stupendous end of the season has earned Courtois to regain his assessment as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. His transfermarkt price had dropped to 48 million, having reached 65 at its highest point, when he was named best goalkeeper at the 2018 Russia World Cup. Now, he has risen to 60 million, which places him fourth among the goalkeepers. Only Ter Stegen and Alisson (72) and Oblak (80) surpass him.