It's remarkable how often the words "aura" and "magic" are used to describe Real Madrid in big matches, namely in the Champions League, and while there is indeed a distinct feeling of inevitability associated with the Merengue club on the grandest stage, there are tangible reasons for their success in European football's preeminent competition. For example, their experience, the fact that they recruit players with the mental qualities to step up in the biggest games, and the simple fact that the best players tend to be able to transcend the game when it matters most.
Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is a great manager in his own right with a track record that speaks for itself, but praise for him has become so automatic that it is almost a crutch that detracts from the success of a few key individual players on the team. So often, fans joke that Ancelotti has a certain mystique about him that allows him to raise his eyebrows and simply get his team to win, but ascribing Real's success to a coach who has been devastatingly outmaneuvered by his peers, such as Barcelona manager Hansi Flick, is a dangerous game.
It's also unfair to one player, in particular. Thibaut Courtois is more responsible for Real Madrid's success in the biggest games, including the Champions League, than many people would like to admit. But they should be willing to admit it, because it explains why Real Madrid are able to get away with so many narrow victories and erases the argument that Real are simply "lucky". They appear lucky because they have a goalkeeper who is a "get out of jail free" card for any manager. Even when he was absent for much of the 2023/24 season due to an injury, his presence was still very much felt with a jaw-dropping display in the Champions League Final against Borussia Dortmund.
Thibaut Courtois made a bigger difference than Carlo in two UCL Finals
Courtois is two-for-two in Champions League Finals and was arguably, alongside winger Vinicius Junior, the most important player in both triumphs. Certainly, Real Madrid would not have won 1-0 in 2022 against Liverpool without Courtois' historic heroics in what may have been the greatest performance in a Champions League Final by a goalkeeper ever. And then, you could very easily argue that without Courtois keeping the team in the game with his first-half saves, Real Madrid would have fallen victim to an upset loss to Dortmund.
Real Madrid have a goalkeeper who has the best reflexes in the game, ridiculous size and length, and rarely make mistakes. No pressure gets to Courtois, because he already faced the worst pressure a player could ever deal with through his first 15 or so months at Real Madrid in which many of his own fans were vilifying him and declaring him a monumentally bad transfer as he struggled to replace Keylr Navas's shoes. Well, now, statistically speaking, he is the greatest goalkeeper in Real Madrid history and could potentially threaten Iker Casillas for achievements with a few more big wins.
I would never discard Ancelotti's accomplishments as a manager, but when people talk him up too much and say that he gives Real Madrid an extra edge in these big games with his "aura" or that he has some sort of dark magic in the Champions League, it feels like a snub against Courtois. Goalkeepers already don't get enough praise in the modern game, and I don't think the average fan - certainly not outside of Madrid - gives the best goalkeeper in the game nearly enough credit.
Courtois is the so-called dark magic. He coms up massive time and time again, turning sure-fire goals into dazzling saves that keep Real Madrid in games they have no business being in. Even when Real Madrid give up three, as against Arsenal, Courtois still distinguishes himself positively. It's high time people stopped giving Ancelotti a pass, because his horrendous, non-existent defensive tactics and laissez faire approach to coaching have been carried for far too long by Courtois' all-time excellence between the sticks.