He has put his hands in all Real’s exploits, he has the same weight as an Ancelotti or a Benzema, he had a career that is not easy but he faces difficulties with the calm of the general
“God come down and explain to us”, they titled in Spain after the reversal that had brought Real to the Champions League final against City. But without bothering the Supreme, it is enough just to put the pieces together to explain that victory and also that in the final against Liverpool: the greatest simplifying football on the bench, the best center forward in the world, the best feet in the median in the world, the best reserve. to the world, and it might as well be enough. But Real have another secret, not hidden because they are two meters tall: the best goalkeeper in the world, Thibaut Courtois.
Numbers
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An obvious secret after last night’s four masterpieces about poor Salah, but less celebrated than it should. Of course, defending the poles of a great team is a tedious job: in most games you are called to a few interventions in ninety minutes, and people only remember if you get them wrong. However, Ancelotti’s Real is a team that surfs on emotions, it is one of those fighters who sometimes have to take one first to give you two slaps. He grants about 13 shots per game to his opponent, 5 of which on goal, but where he has the Champions goalkeeper with the highest percentage of saves, 77.4%. And they are difficult saves, of instinct and kidney, which are worth as much as Benzema’s goals. This alone would be enough to explain the greatness of the Belgian number one, but as Terim said “the numbers are like miniskirts, they always hide the most interesting part”.
Size and value
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So just look at him, Courtois, perhaps with the eyes of someone who wants to score and finds him in front of him: at the height and wingspan (2.10) of a long NBA he also adds perfect timing and great speed of feet, the attacker arrives at the shot. that the mirror is already almost completely covered. Then he knows how to play with his feet and set up, he commands the area and the defense, he has reflexes and glance between the posts and there is no need to talk about the domination of the high balls. Tools that other goalkeepers also have, but unlike many he knows how to use them: cold when he counts, leader with his teammates, he has the calm of the general at the front when he is in goal. Today, at the highest level, there are extremely functional goalkeepers for the team they play for, but who are not the same in absolute terms and above all who do not weigh as much as he does in the results of Real Madrid.
The past matters
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Courtois is also a good head: he hosts a podcast in which he talks about himself with pathos and irony, he financed the project of a residential district in Brussels, he manages an esports club and an academy for djs, he finances a startup of technology applied to the ‘work out. He has endured enormous stressful situations for a professional: eight years ago he found himself on loan at Atletico Madrid to face his own Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final. There was a clause wanted by the Blues according to which if Courtois had played against them the colchoneros would have had to pay a penalty of 3 million, UEFA judged it illegal, he played and blocked the poor Blues who went to goal with the nice Schwarzer. Mou brought him back to Stamford Bridge where in three years he won all the winners in England and changed their minds to the fans who at first turned up their noses, but he never made any secret of how much he wanted to return to Madrid where he had started a family. . In the end he came back – for 35 million, given a sensationally low figure today – but there was already Keylor Navas there who was a weighty player in the locker room, and the dualism was not easy.
Ups and downs
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In short, we have seen easier careers at a high level. But he has always overcome the climbs without shouting, without jolts, only with the strength of his performance, at times taking the steps two by two as the high ones do. In this Champions League he got his hands on all of Real’s exploits, and in some cases – on Havertz against Chelsea or on Grealish in the return to City – only he could put them in the world. A well-known international football magazine did not place him among the 10 strongest in the world this winter, and Ancelotti has publicly invited the editors to return their journalist badges. When they asked him, he answer-gravestone: “I don’t need anyone to tell me I’m the best, I already know.”
May 29, 2022 (change May 29, 2022 | 12:58)
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