Real Madrid: ¡Muchas gracias, Zinedine Zidane!
By Parshva Shah
The rebirth of Thibaut Courtois
You would have probably laughed it off if I told you at the beginning of the season that Courtois would end up conceding the least number of goals and win the Zamora Trophy.
Although Real Madrid’s defense has been absolutely impregnable at times, the lanky Belgian rose to the occasion and saved the team’s blushes on countless occasions (the stoppage time save against Villarreal CF that helped Real win their 10th consecutive match was the highlight of the season in my opinion).
Courtois single-handedly won Los Blancos a lot of points and ensured that the team can eke out tough wins by fairly narrow margins. Conceding just 20 goals in 34 appearances and keeping 18 clean sheets is no small feat. Factor in the Zamora Trophy and becoming the first Real Madrid goalkeeper since Iker Casillas (2007-08) to win the trophy, it’s safe to say Thibaut Courtois is in red-hot form.
At one point, people even called for Alphonse Areola to be the first-choice goalkeeper, but Courtois put the misery behind him and rewarded Zidane’s faith with incredible performance after incredible performance.
He has completely made Madridistas forget Keylor Navas and it has been quite a turnaround for him. Let’s hope that he can build on this performance from here and achieve a status as one of the finest goalkeepers to ever don the white jersey.