Real Madrid are at a crossroads after losing to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals, which is a result that essentially dooms Los Blancos to a second straight season without trophies, which is always a cause for alarm around the Valdebebas.
There are a number of reasons why Real Madrid did not prevail across two legs against the Bundesliga giants, but one of the reasons that goes unstated is the drop off from Thibaut Courtois, currently injured, to backup Andriy Lunin. And even though Manuel Neuer had his own mistake on that pass to Arda Guler to start the second leg, he more than overshadowed that with his amazing saves, leadership, and command of the box.
Real Madrid missed all those soft skills from Lunin. He did not make any more saves beyond what is routinely expected, which is already well below Courtois. But even in his command of the box and on the ball, Lunin was horrible. The goal he allowed to Bayern on the corner in the second leg was much, much worse than either of the goals Neuer surrendered to Guler. Lunin literally stood in his own goal and dove into it while standing behind a player standing right in front of the goal line on the corner. It was as if Bayern had gameplanned for Lunin making this sort of a silly error, and the absurdity of it needs to be discussed more.
Andriy Lunin does not have the magic
While Andriy Lunin is an amazing backup goalkeeper, that is all he is, a backup. And Carlo Ancelotti had already figured this out. In 2024, Ancelotti made it very clear that Lunin is nowhere near Thibaut Courtois, and while some people took offense to that, believing the Italian legend was disrespecting his No. 2, those words could not have rang truer now.
Ancelotti said of Lunin, via beIN Sports, "Lunin has helped us a lot, and I have to consider him, just as I have to consider that the best goalkeeper in the world is returning. He hasn't played in nine months, he needs minutes, and it's also very important to talk to the players and understand better what's going on,"
Some were not happy that after his great season, Lunin was replaced in the Champions League Final against Borussia Dortmund and other big games after Tibo's injury return. But now, Alvaro Arbeloa, the new Real Madrid manager, sees first hand why Carlo did what he did two years ago. Lunin is good, as Carletto said, but Courtois is Courtois. The difference is the magic Real Madrid lost vs. Bayern.
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