“If you face the real Madrid you know that they, when you play a final, win them. That is why I think that now I am on the good side of history”, said Thibaut Courtois (Limburg, Belgium; May 11, 1992), goalkeeper of the real Madridduring the press conference prior to the final of the Champions League 2021-22 against him Liverpool.
The phrase was so forceful that it split a city in two. On the one hand, Real Madrid fans celebrated their goalkeeper’s prior confidence in lifting the 14th Champions League title, while those of the Atletico Madrid They were bothered by the past that this goalkeeper had with them and in which he was runner-up in the continental tournament.
Already on the pitch Stade de Francewhere the 2022 final between Real Madrid and Liverpool was held, the Belgian goalkeeper was in charge of giving his own recital: he made nine saves, the most for a Champions League final, surpassing the eight achieved by Edwin Van der Sar (Man Utd) against Barcelona in 2011 and Alisson Becker (Liverpool) against Tottenham in 2019.
“I had the feeling that no one could score a goal against me today. This is incredible. So many years, so much work, coming to the club of my life. Madrid wins and I saw a lot of people from Liverpool and other people, and today we have seen who is the king of Europe”, said Courtois, who was also recognized with the MVP award as the best player in the 2022 final.
This is the story of redemption Thibout Courtois. He is no longer that young man who drew the attention of the press for his combative agility despite his complexion (two meters tall and less than 97 kilograms in weight) in the early 2010s, when he arrived at Atletico Madrid of “Cholo” Simeone, Radamel Falcao and company. Now it is a reality that fights for recognition as the best goalkeeper in the world.
Courtois began his career in the First Division in April 2009, at just 16 years old, at Genk in his native country. Back then his card value was 50,000 euros, a high figure for a baby-faced player. But Genk became the springboard to reach the European summit, because when they won the Belgian league in 2011, offers began to rain down for their transfer to other latitudes.
The club that kept his services was the Chelseawelcoming you to the major European leagues with a monster like the premier league. That first transfer cost the English club 8.9 million euros, although the inexperience of the then 19-year-old goalkeeper forced them to loan him out to Atlético de Madrid. Not bad for a first test.
Courtois played 154 games in three seasons (from 2011 to 2014) with the mattresses, but his experience grew by leaps and bounds by winning a Copa del Rey trophy (2013) and a league (2014), as well as a final of Champions League that, although he lost to the real Madridwould leave his path marked for the future with a great thirst for revenge.
During his time in Spain, Courtois achieved the footballing maturity that soon erased his childish face: he won the Zamora trophy three times as the goalkeeper with the fewest goals scored in The league (in 2013, 2014 and 2020), he also received his first inclusions in the ideal XI of both Spanish football and the Champions League and he gained worldwide recognition in a decade dominated by the most renowned goalkeepers such as Iker Casillas, Petr Cech and Gianluigi Buffon.
Thanks to his current performance and sobriety under the three posts, the legends already recognize him as number 1 on the planet: “Without a doubt, Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world, because the season he has had has been very good, he has Consolidated as a goalkeeper, you can see a very important maturity that he transmits to the rest of his teammates and if you have a goalkeeper like him, you will have a very solid phase”, said Iker Casillas prior to the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool.
That maturity was strengthened not only at Atletico Madrid, but at Chelsea, where he returned in 2014 after his three-year loan in Spain. With the Blues he maintained his high performance and became league champion again with two titles of Premier (2015 and 2017), in addition to a FA Cup (2018) and one Carabao Cup (2015).
All that performance, in addition to his perseverance in the Belgium team and his attendance at the World Cups in Brazil 2014 Y Russia 2018 (in Russia he was even recognized as the best goalkeeper in the tournament) they made Real Madrid focus on him regardless of his mattress past. That is why in the summer of 2018 the merengue club paid 35 million euros for his services, making it the sixth highest transfer in history for a goalkeeper.
At Real Madrid, Courtois already has four seasons and six titles, the most of his time at clubs. That list of winners includes two leagues, two super cups from Spain, a Club World Cup and the Champions of 2022the trophy that has made him redeem himself at an international level by being the most coveted of his career, after a world Cup. It is also a personal claim.
“In March there was a magazine that did not put me among the 10 best goalkeepers in the world. I’m not saying that they put me first, because there are very good goalkeepers, but after a season like this, not putting me in the top 10 doesn’t make sense. And now I am here as a winner,” said the now 30-year-old Belgian.
At an international level, the goalkeeper experienced one of his best moments in the Russia World Cup 2018. After being the target of criticism along with his teammates, as Eden Hazard Y Kevin DeBruynefor not being able to consecrate their generation in an important tournament, they managed to obtain third place in the Russian World Cup only behind France and Croatia as champion and runner-up, respectively.
Now with a Champions League title in his possession and in full maturity, Courtois will be one of the key factors for Belgium in the search for their first world title in Qatar 2022. But for Courtois, redemption came a little earlier, by becoming the protagonist of a Champions League final and erasing the smile of the goal from the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané.