On Real Madrid's heroic and magnificent Wembley night, many people were honored. That is the duo Toni Kroos - Luka Modric with 6 Champions League titles. That is Jude Bellingham when he became the champion after only one good season like Vinicius Jr, a player who specializes in scoring in finals. Among them, it is impossible not to mention Thibaut Courtois when the Belgian star had an excellent performance.
When the final whistle blew, Courtois hugged the ball tightly and laughed innocently like a child. After that, he knelt down and started crying. That is a great pride and happiness for the 32-year-old "goalkeeper". He had to go through the most difficult season of his career, but in the end, everything ended in glory.
Returning to the dressing room, Courtois posted a brief status on Instagram to celebrate the victory: "When you know, the sacrifices over the past few days have been rewarded."
When he suffered an ACL injury last August, this season seemed to have ended for Thibaut Courtois like David Alaba. However, he did not fall into a state of despair. The Belgian goalkeeper spends 5 hours a day practicing recovery, day after day with great motivation to participate in the final stage of the season. The adversity once again appeared when in March, Courtois suffered a hamstring injury and was predicted not to be able to return in time, possibly even missing EURO 2024.
However, with his own determination, Courtois maintained it, even increasing the recovery time each day. The final result was a faster return than he had imagined. Coach Carlo Ancelotti could not help but acknowledge that determination from his student. The Italian captain has given Courtois the opportunity in the last 4 matches of the 2023-2024 season, including the Champions League final at Wembley. In the end, Ancelotti was right. Courtois played no less than the final 2 years ago and contributed greatly to Los Blancos' journey to the 15th European Championship.
Last month, when asked who would be the main goalkeeper in the match at Wembley, Ancelotti hinted that Courtois would be chosen even though it was undeniable that Andriy Lunin was also excellent.
"Lunin has helped us a lot this year, but wait and see, the world's best goalkeeper is getting ready to return."
Ancelotti's affirmation may have been true for him at that time, but when looking at Courtois' performance against Dortmund, no one could deny Carletto's this view. spacious shots by Marcel Sabitzer and Niclas Fullkrug were blocked. Or the dangerous situation facing Karim Adeyemi, without enough experience and courage, Courtois would not be able to close the angle or would be easily defeated by a shirt-tossing situation from the opponent.
Before leaving Wembley with the gold medal and Champions League title, Courtois did not forget to thank Andriy Lunin. The Belgian star shared that without his Ukrainian teammate, Real Madrid would not have been able to achieve success this season.
Unlike most of his teammates preparing for Copa America and EURO 2024, Courtois could enjoy his most comfortable summer without playing in Germany. He has ended the final period of the 2023-2024 campaign in no way to be more perfect with 4 matches, facing 18 shots and not conceding any.
