Courtois is the wall

Real Madrid receives in Valdebebas tonight a Chelsea that has made defensive solvency its hallmark: has left a clean sheet in 16 of the 21 games that Thomas Tuchel has led. Some impeccable numbers with which Madrid, however, is capable of rivaling: it has been 390 minutes in a row without conceding a single goal, those that have passed since Mingueza made it 2-1 for Barcelona in the 60th minute of the Classic. Since then, they have gone more than four games with the immaculate Courtois net.

Much of his merit rests on the shoulders of the Belgian goalkeeper, who against Betis, on the last day of the League, saved the point for the whites with two stops, especially with a heads-up against Borja Iglesias in which he reduced the spaces for the striker to the maximum. Courtois has stopped 22 of the last 24 shots he has received between the three sticks and only the moments of anxiety that Madrid has gone through in previous months prevent him from being in numbers to lead the Zamora Trophy in the League.

He has conceded 24 goals in 33 games so far, averaging 0.73 goals per game. March third in the classification that defines the best goalkeeper of the Spanish tournament, very close to Bono (0.72) and some distance from Oblak, with 22 goals conceded in 33 games (0.67). The recognition, which Courtois has already received three times (two of them with Atlético and one with Real Madrid), is still within reach. It will depend on what happens in the final five days and to a large extent it will also mark Madrid's options to fight for the title.

Courtois, before his past

Now comes the Champions League, where Courtois has not walked as fine, as Madrid in general in defense: 11 goals conceded in ten games. Nine of those eleven goals, yes, they received during the improvable group stage that Zizou's team made; between the eighths (Atalanta) and the fourths (Liverpool), only two goals conceded in four games. And Chelsea arrives, a team with which the Belgian has maintained a bond in the past.

In the summer of 2011, Genk transferred Courtois to Chelsea in exchange for nine million euros; Almost at the same time, his transfer to Atleti was announced, where he played for three years, waiting for Cech, an institution at Stamford Bridge, to make room for him. In the summer of 2014 he returned to play four seasons at Chelsea: 154 games and 152 goals conceded. In England he won two Premier League, an FA Cup and a League Cup, until he asked to leave, on his way to Madrid …