Real Madrid: Stats showing how Thibaut Courtois has been among the elite again

Goalkeepers don’t get as much praise as they should in modern football, but Real Madrid fans have generally done a great job of making sure Thibaut Courtois’ great work between the posts gets acknowledge on a regular basis.

Last year’s Zamora Trophy winner in Spain, Courtois was the bedrock of the best defense in Europe’s top five leagues. He was rarely beaten, and he would frequently make wonderful saves to keep Los Blancos in games.

This season, it’s been more of the same for the big Belgian. Courtois is bailing his team out with huge stops, including this past Tuesday vs. Chelsea, and he has generally avoided making mistakes to set his team back.

The numbers back up what Madridistas say about Courtois being one of the absolute best goalkeepers in the world. He has a case for the No. 1 spot.

One stat stands out above the rest. According to FBRef.com, Thibaut Courtois leads all goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues in save percentage. He saves 81.8 percent of the shots he has faced. Through 33 La Liga Matchdays, Courtois is the only player in all of Europe’s top five to have a save percentage above 80 percent.

Thibaut Courtois has been key to Real Madrid’s competitiveness in La Liga and the Champions League

Courtois also ranks favorably in two other major statistics. He has the sixth-lowest goals per 90 minutes allowed despite the fact that key starters Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal have been injured for much of the season. And we all know how much the drop-off between Ferland Mendy and Marcelo has hurt this team, too.

Real Madrid aren’t keeping as many clean sheets as last season because of the defensive issues, yet Courtois still has 15 clean sheets. Only three goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues have more clean sheets, while Courtois ranks 11th in clean sheet percentage. He is also sixth in post-shot expected goals.

These are all outstanding numbers. Statistically speaking, Courtois is a top-five goalkeeper who is very likely in the top three with Jan Oblak and Mike Maignan, with the ranking depending on how much you weigh recent success (Maignan) or defensive success (Oblak).

No matter where you rank him exactly, you have to admit that Courtois is one of the absolute best players at his position and vital to Real Madrid. Amidst injuries in defense and a whole lot of counterattacks against him, Courtois has managed to help lead Real to a point where they could conceivably win La Liga and the Champions League despite even greater attacking question marks.

Courtois makes sure Real have a chance in any low-scoring match. He is Europe’s leader in save percentage and has put together another brilliant season for Los Merengues.