Incongruous before the Champions League final, the question can make many people smile afterwards, including the two interested parties: impassable against Liverpool, can Thibaut Courtois deprive Karim Benzema of the Ballon d’Or on the wire? 59 years after the Russian Lev Yachine, can a second goalkeeper win the supreme individual award on Monday, October 17?
Before the epilogue at the Stade de France, the race for the award of the 66th Ballon d’Or seemed to come down to a match between the 34-year-old French striker and the Senegalese Sadio Mané. The Reds beaten in Saint-Denis (1-0), the case was therefore heard: Benzema, his 15 goals this season in C1 including 9 in the knockout phaseclears the highway a little more towards the ultimate consecration.
Except that the former Lyonnais (34) did not score in this final – his goal in the 43rd was invalidated by the VAR -, and that the one who leaves the strongest impression at the end of these 90 minutes is a 2-meter Belgian, unanimously hailed as the man of the match, starting with Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp. To what extent will the performance of Thibaut Courtois (30 years old) weigh in the minds of the 100 journalists called to vote at the end of the summer?
Nine decisive saves in the final
“I needed to win a final for my career, for all the efforts I made, for my name to be respected,” he said after the match. Can he go even further and become a legend? If the goalkeepers go on paper from much further than the attackersThibaut Courtois has in fact placed himself this season as an essential element.
His nine decisive saves in the final are likely to be remembered for a while. From his left hand parade on the ground against Mohamed Salah in the 16th minute to his right hand headline still against the Egyptian in the 82nd minute, the native of Brée successively sickened all the opposing attackers (Mané 21st, Jota 80th, Salah again 18th, 34th, 64th, 69th). Enough to earn him a score of 9 out of 10 in L’Équipe, against 5 for Benzema, 6 for striker Vinicius and 7 for Dani Carvajal, the best Madrid player among outfield players.
Buffon 2e en 2006
The one who claims to no longer have the “seum” almost four years after Belgium’s defeat against France in the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup remains a discreet man, who would undoubtedly be happy to see his teammate Benzema receive the Ballon d ‘Gold. His final masterpiece in front of nearly 300 million viewers will he allow him to do better than the Italian Gianluigi Buffon, 2nd in 2006, the year of world title for Italy? This year the prize will be awarded before the World Cup in Qatar. The question is perhaps not so incongruous.
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