He arrived with the Golden Glove snatched at the 2018 World Cup. And he was paid handsomely – 35 million euros. A large sum of money for a goalkeeper at the time. It’s not Real’s fault that Chelsea overplayed the limit by shelling out 80 million for Kepa Arrizabalaga. For that kind of money, The Blues only got headaches. But for these 35, Real got a proper champion, because even though they expected him to be good, no one could have predicted Thibaut Courtois’s performance to be this good.Thibaut Courtois at Real Madrid in the last 4 finals:▶ 4 cleansheets▶ 19 shots on target▶ 19 savesHe has played against Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao, Liverpool, Eintracht Frankfurt. 👏💪 pic.twitter.com/iv7T8HwMoA— The lord of Noobs RM🍷 (@Levy_T_) August 11, 2022 With this Super Cup against Eintracht in Helsinki, the Belgian played his fifth final in Real Madrid’s jersey and he conceded only one goal in those five! And that goal came at the World Club Championship in 2018, against Al Ain, when the Spanish titan was already leading 3:0. In the end, Real won that game 4:1. If we count only the finals in Spain and UEFA competitions, where the opponents are even more challenging, Courtois – flawless: 19 shots on his goal and an unreal 19 saves!Benzema lifts his first trophy as Los Blancos captain – fifth UEFA Super Cup for Real MadridIt started in the 2018 Supercopa de Espana when Real and Atletico played out a goalless draw, but the Royals won the trophy in a penalty shoot-out in which Courtois saved Tomas Partney’s penalty before Sergio Ramos struck for the triumph. And that save is not counted among these 19 saves. In January this year, Real once again lifted the Spanish Super Cup by defeating Athletic Bilbao with 2:0. Courtois invincible again. Then May, the Champions League final game against Liverpool and the miraculous nine saves of Courtois, a record in the finals since the statistical agency Opta started measuring data in the 2003/2004 season. In that entire season, Courtois made 59 saves in the Champions League, another record for Opta. ##NAJAVA_MECA_6557299##In the end, during the fight for the European Super Cup, Real was convincing against Frankfurt, controlled the match all the time, but the Germans also had their chances. They just had no solution for the ‘octopus’ between Real’s posts. He is already used to trophies. The whole club is. Since the new golden era at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium began in 2014, Real have won 17 of their 19 finals. You can dislike them. You have to respect them. The same goes for Courtois. For Real’s fans, he is a worshiped hero, a savior, a perfect saint. To everyone else, he is a villain, a nightmare, a football panda to the famous Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man’s archenemy from the Marvel comics. And sometimes it really looks like he has four extra arms.
