5 Real Madrid players that have performed the best since La Liga’s return
By Parshva Shah
Real Madrid have leapfrogged Barcelona to the top of the table.
La Liga is now reaching a crescendo as the title race heats up. If there is one team that have benefited the most from the lockdown are Real Madrid. They have made it five wins out of five, the only team so far to win all their games since the restart of the season.
Zidane has tweaked his line-up every match and has also surprised us with his substitutions. All outfield players have played since the resumption of the league, but it seems the players who have already registered indispensable status in the squad are only strengthening their credentials as important first-team players, while there has been one particular player whose flamboyance and flair on the pitch will only keep him out of the starting line-up for so long.
Here are five players, in my opinion, who have impressed the most since the return of football.
Thibaut Courtois
What can I say about this man? From being the biggest antagonist of a dreadful 2018-19 season to reinstating his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in all of Europe this season, he has had quite the cinematic arc at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Thibaut Courtois has been a wall between the sticks. Whenever Real’s already robust defense is invaded and the opposition sniffs an opportunity to strike, the Belgian rises to the occasion with his impeccable handling of the ball.
Much of the credit for Real Madrid’s airtight defense would go to the defenders, but Courtois has performed incredibly well, parrying the ball away using his goalkeeping pyrotechnics and having the most clean sheets thanks to his three clean sheets in five games since football returned.
He has conceded just two goals and is a big reason why Real Madrid have remained unbeaten in the last five games.
Jan Oblak has been winning the Zamora Trophy in each of his last four seasons at Atlético Madrid, so for Thibaut to dethrone Oblak as the best goalkeeper in La Liga speaks volumes about how good a season he is enjoying.
Courtois has played all the minutes since the resumption, and Zidane probably wouldn’t drop him from the line-up.