Real Madrid: Thibaut Courtois had a first half for the ages at Getafe

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has returned to world-class form since October, but he’s saved his best performances for 2020.

Thibaut Courtois has always had the ability to be one of the best goalkeepers in the world, so Real Madrid fans simply needed to exercise patience when the keeper was having a rough patch of form in his first year with Los Blancos.

But now, Courtois is thriving with the most pressurized club in the world. He is a favorite to finish as La Liga’s leader in clean sheets, as only Unai Simon and Jan Oblak currently have more. Additionally, Courtois is second to Simon in La Liga in save percentage.

On Saturday against Getafe, Courtois had his best half in a Real Madrid shirt. He didn’t just make one amazing save. No, he made three of them to keep Los Blancos in the lead 1-0 despite being thoroughly outplayed by the home side.

The best save of the bunch, though, was his first. Check out the reflexes and anticipation to make this stop. His defenders had barely turned around when Courtois stopped this one, as he had simply no time to defend this thunderous effort.

Courtois then made a massive save at the near post to deny another singing volley from finding the back of the net for Getafe’s equalizer.

Throughout the season, Courtois has shown great concentration, making stops that show he’s not taken by surprise. His save near the end of the half to parry a point-blank header exhibited more of his incredible ability to ALWAYS be on his game, no matter what.

Real Madrid can thank Thibaut Courtois for heading into the first half of their match against Getafe with a 1-0 lead, and these three stops from the keeper are another sign that he is indeed back to being among the best keepers in the world. By the end of the season, Madrid fans could be talking about Courtois as La Liga’s best keeper again, and he’s emerged as one of the most important players on the team.

It’s a joy to have a keeper playing with this kind of confidence. The difference between Courtois in January and in August is night and day, and he’s overcome a lot of criticism to show fans why Los Blancos believed in him as a world-class keeper. Because that’s the standard he’s set, and he’ll surely have more game-saving stops as the season goes on, including in the Champions League.