Courtois’s withdrawal brings forward the Ukrainian’s second game with Madrid and gives him the opportunity to play two games in a row for the first time since July 2020.
Lunin will have a enough time for impression
Without waiting for it, Lunin faces his most important week since he was a Real Madrid player. In just three days he will have more opportunities to shine than in his three and a half years as a white player (he arrived in July 2018 from Zoryá Lugansk). Courtois’ positive for coronavirus leaves him as the starting goalkeeper against Getafe (January 2) and against Alcoyano (January 5). It will be the second time that the Real Madrid shirt has been worn in an official match and, therefore, the first time that it has played two consecutive games. The last time the goalkeeper chained two matches in a row was during his loan at Oviedo.
His Copa Del Rey debut
Against Spanish low division club it will be his league debut with the Whites. In his historic five games, he already has played in the highest category of Spanish football, but all were with the Leganés shirt, where he played on loan. They have played in the Copa del Rey: two with Leganés, two with Valladolid (another of their assignments) and one with Madrid. The latter is the only one who has played for the Chamartín club. It was last year on an unfortunate night for him and Real Madrid. Alcoyano, from Second B, took them out of the competition (2-1 after an extension) and left Lunin without the possibility of playing a single minute more that season. In fact, it was a very difficult course for him. His little presence in Madrid has also removed him from his national team, where he aimed to be the starting goalkeeper for the next decade. For this reason, this opportunity to shine again is received with enthusiasm, although with some pain when provoked by the loss of a teammate.