Real Madrid: 5 players who will be vital for getting revenge against Shakhtar

3. THIBAUT COURTOIS

The third most important player for Real Madrid would be their Belgian Wall in goal. Thibaut Courtois has been top class for Real Madrid given how awfully the defense has played. His masterclass against Inter Milan and Villarreal put him up as one of the best players of September. As such, the defense is once again in question and Courtois would be the one who needs to step up being the leader that he is.

Courtois has developed as a natural leader at the back on and off the pitch. He takes the charge to speak up to the public media after a bad match and handles things expertly without shying away from calling out who needs to be called out be it the referees or the governing bodies of football.

Shakhtar, at no cost, is a club that can be discounted. They are dangerous on counters and though they haven’t had the best start to their European campaign, they did keep Inter at bay to see out a 0-0 draw. And, that should give us an idea of how strong a side they are.

Their threat on counters would always be alive and Thibaut Courtois needs to be at the best of his concentration to pull out another masterclass because this defense is bound to struggle especially when there would be another transition involved given the Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao switch predicted.