Thiabaut Courtois is back and Madrid can breathe easy. Andriy Lunin had fulfilled his role during the Belgian’s absence due to a serious knee injury last summer, but in his last competitive league game against Villarreal he conceded four goals and sowed doubts. Carlo Ancelotti dispelled them by placing Courtois in the starting line-up for the Champions League final at Wembley.
Courtois was once again a saint for Real Madrid in the European Super Cup final. At the start of the second half, with the match still tied at no goals, He flew to save Pasalic’s header with an impressive save. The story might have been very different if this goal had gone in.
Madrid got their act together when they saw that Atalanta could hurt them and sentenced the final with two almost consecutive goals from Fede Valverde and Kylian Mbappé.
Courtois has filled Real Madrid’s gaps on numerous occasions. He has yet to concede a goal in the six official matches he has played since his return.
The starting goalkeeper of the Madrid team played four league games in the final stretch of last season, to which must be added the Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund and the European Super Cup final which kicked off the season.
Madrid showed against Atalanta that they have a devastating attackbut at the same time it can suffer in the midfield and defence, where it has not been reinforced despite the departure of two important players like Kroos and Nacho. The signings have been two forwards, Mbappé and Endrik.
The Whites make their debut in La Liga this Sunday with a match at Son Moix against Mallorca at 9.30pm.
