Thibaut Courtois is one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the game of football, and he showed that again on Tuesday night, during Real Madrid’s 2-1 win over Inter.
Courtois was by far the best player on the pitch for either team, producing brilliant saves one after another to save Real Madrid from deep, deep trouble once again. There were so many moments where a goal looked to be definite for the Italian champions, but Courtois’ reflexes and positioning did not allow them to have the satisfaction of the ball going into the net.
There was only one chance which ended up at the back of the net, but apart from that, it was a flawless performance from the Belgian goalkeeper, who gave fans a glimpse of what he has been doing for the club throughout his time there.
Real Madrid had not needed Courtois’ services to this extent leading up to the Inter game, which saw some fans tweet about whether Courtois is still the goalkeeper Real Madrid can rely on. Blasphemous tweets. They were shut down at the first opportunity that Courtois got.
Iker Casillas had a longer career, but Thibaut Courtois may just be the more consistent goalkeeper
Courtois did not make many saves in the first few games of the season not because he was not good enough on the night, but because he simply did not have to. Anyway, this performance showed that he is still by far the best goalkeeper in world football, and it is also leading the fans to have a very uncomfortable conversation about him and Iker Casillas, and where the two goalkeepers rank in terms of greatness.
Casillas had some brilliant performances for a number of years at Real Madrid, but the last few years at the club, combined with the entire situation with Jose Mourinho as well as his general decline and error-proneness was visible. He was still a good goalkeeper, but it was clear, even during the time with Carlo Ancelotti, that he was prone to mistakes here and there in his twilight years at the club.
His prime was fantastic, but it is difficult to put that up against Courtois’. Courtois is 34 years old right now, which is the same age that Casillas was when he ended up leaving Real Madrid. In the last three years of his time at the club, Casillas did not play much, while Courtois has been Real Madrid’s number one keeper for every single season he’s been fit for since his arrival. He has been at the club for eight years, while his time at Chelsea and Atletico Madrid was also brilliant.
Now, in terms of longevity, Casillas was Real Madrid’s starting keeper for a lot longer than Courtois, and played more games throughout his career than Courtois has so far, but in terms of how they are ending their careers, and how consistent the Belgian has been, Courtois does edge it slightly. You can also count on one hand the amount of errors the current Real Madrid number one has made in his time at the club, which says a lot about his consistency.
Courtois may not be the greatest Real Madrid keeper yet – Casillas still holds that title for now – but it is possible that, by the time the Belgian retires, he gets very, very close to taking that title from the Spaniard. He might even take it, but it will depend on how well he is able to keep himself in his twilight years.
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