Real Madrid player compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Many fans feel that the rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona has lost a lot of its edge, at least to the global audience, since Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi departed the Spanish game. It is hard to argue with that. Once upon a time, football seemed to revolve around El Clasico. That is no longer the case.

Real Madrid have continued winning trophies consistently and are still the best team on the planet, despite the departure of Ronaldo. FC Barcelona have had their ups and downs without Messi to steer the ship.

There just seems to be something missing from their rivalry though, after its peak in the 2010s. Perhaps Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal can take over that mantle.

Since the departure of Ronaldo, Thibaut Courtois has been one of the shining lights of Real Madrid. He arrived the summer the Portuguese icon left. Over that period of time, he has probably been the best goalkeeper in the world.

Real Madrid player compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo

Courtois has been compared to Messi, Ronaldo and Diego Maradona, when it comes to goalkeeper. As reported by GOAL, Santiago Canizares said while speaking on Moviestar+:

"Courtois is the best of all. There was a time when we said: 'There's Messi and there are the others, or there's [Diego] Maradona'... well, this is similar. Courtois is the Maradona, the Messi, the Cristiano of the goal. He's much better than the rest and he's there every day. We have become accustomed to important saves from balls that go into the corner, balls that go down to the ground quickly, which with another goalkeeper we would highlight, we have become accustomed to seeing this as normal.

"That is the greatness of, for me, the best goalkeeper I have ever seen play football. A Thibaut Courtois who is once again the MVP of the match and where for Real Madrid really made the difference, especially in goal. Without a doubt (Courtois is the best in history)."

It is certainly a bold claim to declare the best goalkeeper in history. That being said, the Belgian goalkeeper is certainly building up his resume.

He won a couple of Premier League titles while at Chelsea and now, at Real Madrid, he has been a consistent winner as well. It is not hard to understand why Carlo Ancelotti decided to play him in last season's Champions League final, shortly after his return from injury, even though Andriy Lunin had not put a foot wrong all season.

While Courtois has been tremendous, his achievements at international level with Belgium have not been as impressive. It is still hard to believe that their golden generation did not win anything.