Thibaut Courtois comes into the Super Copa de Espana with the aim of winning his second trophy as a Real Madrid player, having only lifted the Club World Cup since joining in the summer of 2018.
The Belgian has been in exceptional form these days, which has put to bed any debates about Los Blancos potentially missing Keylor Navas between the sticks.
Zinedine Zidane made it clear after the win at Getafe last weekend that Courtois is the best goalkeeper in the world, and this is clearly a belief that the Real Madrid coach had even last season.
There was some controversy surrounding Zidane’s decision to play Courtois ahead of Keylor in the 2018/19 campaign, but his faith has been rewarded with the former Chelsea player’s performances in the last couple of months.
It’s been difficult for Courtois, but now he feels confident and wants to do great things with Los Blancos.
What’s more, the 27-year-old is offering a sense of tranquillity to his teammates and he is bailing his side out when the opposition gets beyond the Real Madrid defense.
Following his clean sheet in the 3-0 win away at Getafe, Courtois has now prevented the opposition from scoring in nine of his last 12 games between LaLiga Santander and the Champions League.
The only teams to have beaten Courtois in the last 12 matches are Real Sociedad, Valencia and Paris Saint-Germain, with this run going back to Real Madrid’s last defeat, which came against Real Mallorca on October 19.
Defensively, Real Madrid has been a different team this season and that is exemplified by the fact that they have only conceded 12 goals in their first 19 games in LaLiga Santander, their best record at this stage since the 1986/87 campaign.
Now, Courtois is fighting Jan Oblak for the Zamora Trophy. The Belgian has played 16 games and has conceded nine goals, while the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper has played all 19, allowing a total of 12 goals.
Both Courtois and Oblak have the same average, although the Slovenian currently has the edge as he has played more games. In order to win the trophy, a minimum of 28 games must be played.
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