What a come-back from Thibaut Courtois. Belgian goalkeeper won the January player of La Liga award, and it’s an extraordinary moment for him.
The awful first season for Belgian keeper
Thibaut joined Real Madrid last season. As you may know, Zidane left Real Madrid in the summer of 2018 when Thibaut signed for Los Blancos. The whole squad of Real Madrid had a terrible season in 2018/2019. Team players could not win any trophies, and some of them left squad next summer.
Courtois had a terrible season too. He has conceded many goals, and fans were booing him during the matches at Santiago Bernabeu. Santiago Solari believed in Thibaut, and that’s why Keylor Navas was sitting on the bench for most of the games.
The turning point for Thibaut Courtois
As you may know, Zidane has chosen Belgian keeper over Navas. Keylor left Real Madrid in the summer of 2019 for PSG. Los Blancos signed Areola from PSG, and it was a good deal for both clubs. Thibaut Courtois had a bit of a different start of the season in 2019. During the second match of Champions League, Zidane substituted Thibaut Courtois after the first half. Goalkeeper conceded two goals in the first half, and he had an awful performance. That substitution during the break was the turning point for Thibaut.
Spanish experts believed that Zidane’s decision could be harmful to the Courtois mentality. Fortunately to Real Madrid bosses, Thibaut had a different opinion. As it seems, Belgian goalkeeper started training harder than ever, and he became the central pillar of Real Madrid’s latest success.
Los Blancos has the record-setting season while the team has conceded fewer goals than any team in the top 5 league teams in the world. He was the leading player who helped Real Madrid to win the Supercopa of Spain. Zinedine Zidane believes that Courtois deserved personal awards and recognition from Spanish La Liga.