Real Madrid: 4 takeaways from a 0-0 second leg draw with Liverpool

Thibaut Courtois the star of the show

Thibaut Courtois is La Liga’s leader in save percentage, according to FBRef.com, and Real Madrid fans are quick to declare him the best goalkeeper in the world. Manuel Neuer and fellow La Liga standout Jan Oblak have something to say about that, but Courtois equaled Neuer’s heroics in Wednesday night’s clean sheet draw with Liverpool.

There are multiple players who should be credited with helping Los Blancos advance past Liverpool in the quarterfinals, but nobody was more vital to Real than Courtois in the second leg. From the first five minutes until the end, Courtois was making tremendous saves and handling the ball securely so that the Reds would not get easy follow-up chances with so many men flooded into the box.

Courtois’ ball security with the ball at his feet is usually a different story entirely, and he did have a spotty moment early in the match. But the Belgian avoided any errors thereafter.

Three saves stood out the most. The first was a one-on-one against Mohamed Salah early in the match. The second was a great stop from a long-range effort by James Milner. And the third was late in the match on Salah when Courtois stopped the ball and also got it to deflect off Salah so that Real would get the goal kick instead of surrendering a late corner.

Once again, Madridistas owe Courtois a whole lot of gratitude.