EI Madrid is in good hands. Or rather, in good gloves. Thibaut Courtois, 28, is in the prime of his successful professional career. They say that being a Madrid goalkeeper is very complicated because they only come to you two or three times in the whole game and they have to react as if they were on fire and at full capacity like the goalkeepers of more modest teams who have a lot of work during the matches. This was interpreted very well by Paco Buyo in the happy times of the Quinta del Buitre (the usual thrashing always began with a couple of saves from the Galician, with 0-0 on the scoreboard) and especially with Iker Casillas, who achieved especially with the Galacticos minimize with their prodigies in the goal the damage generated by a team in which everyone played with an offensive mentality.
Courtois has had a hard time acquiring that role because in his first year at the Bernabéu (2018-19) he had to share the bill with Keylor Navas, an idol for the fans having been in the three Champions League in a row with Zidane.
But in the summer of 2019 the Tico left for PSG and 'Tibu' finally understood that he was the undeniable owner of Real Madrid's goal. Following a great game in Istanbul, the Belgian giant was winning stripes in a changing room that received him with some suspicion (heavyweights were very close to Keylor) but who now enjoys and values the hierarchy of a world-class goalkeeper that last year was one of the most decisive for the conquest of League 34.
The night of the alirón against Villarreal in Valdebebas, Courtois received a brutal impact on the head, in a fortuitous clash with Quintillá. Far from being daunted and with the title at stake, he continued on the field and in the last minutes had three decisive interventions. Titles-giving stops.
And that's what he did on Sunday in Anoeta. Isak was left alone and finished on goal. It was 1-0. But ‘Tibu’ stuck out his left leg like a hook and saved his team from defeat. The number 1, which now opens, suits him very well.