Ranking Real Madrid’s 10 most unforgettable moments of 2021
4. Thibaut Courtois’s ‘Face-save’ in El Derbi
There was no way Real Madrid’s Belgian wall would miss out on this list. Thibaut Courtois has been in fine form this season. Although Real Madrid has been stretched at the back and hasn’t kept many clean sheets, Courtois cannot be blamed for most of the conceded goals.
Thibaut Courtois’s best moment of the year came in this season’s first Madrid Derbi at Santiago Bernabeu that Los Blancos won 2-0. The two goals from Benzema and Marco Asensio were both clinically finished but, Los Blancos has Thibaut Courtois to thank for this win. According to FBref, Courtois had six saves at a save rate of 100% in the game that included a free-kick from Antoine Griezmann, reflex saves at the near post, and shots driven low.
Apart from all of it, one save in particular stands out where he denied Joao Felix any consolation within injury time when a shot in point-blank range hit Courtois’s Face and stayed out to preserve the clean sheet. Goalies use all parts of their body and as long as the shot stays out it’s a credit to the Goalkeeper. Tibo had enough courage to literally face that shot and keep it out. Even if that meant some attention from the medical staff right afterward.
3. Vini Jr recreates two CR7 Golazos
Vini Junior is having a stellar individual season. This is easily his best season so far in his Real Madrid career and there wasn’t any doubt that his moments would be added so higher up in this list. While a lot of Vini’s moments stand out in 2021, I specifically choose two great goals that drew comparisons with the left-wing GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo.
Firstly, an 87th-minute strike to win the game against Sevilla who is Real’s closest competition in the league this season. CR7 scored a very similar goal in LaLiga too with videos flooding on the internet of the two. Moreover, Vini also pulled out the iconic ‘Calma’ celebration after the goal. It was a moment for the ages.
The next one, in fact, happened earlier on in the season when Real traveled to Kyiv to humiliate Shakhtar 0-5 in the Champions League. For Vini’s second of the match and Real’s third, the young Brazilian had something special on his mind. In the 56th minute, he received the ball from Benzema and dribbled his way through the Ukrainian defense to finally finish it onto the roof of the net. The resulting product was so, so similar to CR7’s golazo against Galatasaray in 2013.