Even at Real Madrid, where it has become the natural order of things once more, there is nothing quite like winning the European Cup.
You could see it in the frenzied reactions of the veterans Nacho, Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos, champions of Europe for a record-equalling sixth time, and the sense of wonder felt by Jude Bellingham, a first-time winner at the age of 20. You could certainly see it in the response of Thibaut Courtois.
When the final whistle came at Wembley on Saturday evening, Courtois was clutching the ball. He chucked it like a hot potato and set off in celebration, but almost immediately the goalkeeper slowed down, held his hands aloft and looked to the heavens. At that point he put both hands to his head and sank to his knees, overcome with emotion.
He certainly enjoyed the celebrations that followed, cavorting around with his team-mates and the trophy. But in that particular moment it was far less about Madrid’s 15th European Cup triumph, la decimoquinta, and all about what it meant to the individual.
Back in the dressing room, Courtois posted a photograph of that moment on Instagram: “When you know so many months of sacrifice have been worth it,” the 32-year-old said.
Courtois is overcome by the emotion of his toughest season (Photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
This has been by far the toughest season of Courtois’ career.
In August it seemed like a write-off when he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee just two days before La Liga began. He went under the surgeon’s knife and threw himself into his rehab, spending five hours a day trying to build up the strength in his knee, fuelled by an ambition of returning in time to play in the Champions League final.
He seemed to be on track for a late-season comeback, but then he tore the meniscus in his right knee in March — and at that point, he told CBS Sport after Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium, “a lot of people thought, ‘OK, it’s finished’.”
Courtois still refused to give up. He returned in time to make four league appearances before the end of the season, leaving coach Carlo Ancelotti with a dilemma over who to pick for the final. Andriy Lunin had deputised superbly, helping Madrid to win another La Liga title and making important saves to thwart Manchester City in the quarter-final and Bayern Munich in the semi-final.
In the end, there was no decision to make because Lunin fell ill during the build-up to the final and had to travel to London separately from his team-mates to avoid contagion. But Ancelotti was firmly expected to go with Courtois regardless. As the coach said last month, “Lunin has helped a lot with a fantastic season” but “the best goalkeeper in the world is coming back”.
The best? Quite possibly. There are more spectacular goalkeepers and there are certainly a few who are more adept with the ball at their feet, but it is doubtful Ancelotti or Real’s players would swap Courtois for any of them.
Saturday evening might have felt routine compared to his match-winning heroics in his previous Champions League final against Liverpool two years ago, but his contributions were still significant: standing tall, one against one, and then spreading himself to force Karim Adeyemi to take the ball too far wide on 21 minutes; denying Adeyemi again when the winger raced through seven minutes later; further saves from Marcel Sabitzer and Niclas Fullkrug; an air of supreme assurance whenever Dortmund, having fallen behind to Carvajal’s header, threatened to force a way back into the game.
Adeyemi breaks through one on one (TNT Sports)
They were not the most difficult saves, Courtois said afterwards. The most challenging moment was when Adeyemi broke through for the first time: “OK, I have to wait for him. I will not run out. He’s faster than me, so I have to stay in my position and wait to see what he’s going to do. Is he going to shoot? Is he going to dribble me? If he dribbles, he has to push the ball far because I’m tall also. So I just try not to make (concede) a penalty. But if I could touch the ball, I touch the ball. And he went too wide and obviously that’s an important moment, the save.”
Courtois forced Adeyemi wide from this point to prevent what seemed a certain goal (TNT Sports)
He can relax now — enjoy the celebrations, take a few weeks off. Most of his Madrid team-mates are heading to the European Championship or Copa America, but Courtois will not be involved. He was left out of preliminary Belgium’s squad for Euro 2024 last week, with coach Domenico Tedesco saying the goalkeeper is “not ready for the Euros” having only just returned from long-term injury.
In reality, there is far more to it than what Tedesco referred to as a question of “rhythm”. Courtois left the Belgium camp last June, furious that, with Kevin De Bruyne absent through injury, Tedesco selected Romelu Lukaku as captain for a Euro 2024 qualifier against Austria. Courtois was told he would be captain in the next game, against Estonia, but the damage was done, with the goalkeeper alleging “a breach of trust”.
Courtois told Belgian sports website Sporza in March that he would not be ready, physically, for the Euros even if he had returned to action for Madrid by then, saying it was “better to immediately provide that clarity to the national team”. But when Tedesco told a news conference he had done “everything” to try to persuade the goalkeeper to return to the fold, Courtois suggested this was not the case.
🤥🤥🤥
— Thibaut Courtois (@thibautcourtois) March 14, 2024
In the days before Tedesco named his preliminary squad for the Euros, there were rumours in Belgium that Courtois might be included after all. But it was a non-starter. There are genuine physical considerations as Courtois looks to ensure he is fully fit for Madrid for next season, but the relationship with Tedesco appears broken.
With Courtois having made a triumphant return for Madrid, Tedesco will know his choice of goalkeeper — likely to be Nottingham Forest’s Matz Selz — will come under scrutiny.
It is a strange situation, but one that seems to be underpinned by Courtois’ demands for respect.
Even in the breathless moments after the 2022 final he demanded the English media to “put some respect on my name”, having seemingly taken great offence that “there was a magazine … that didn’t put me in the top 10 (goalkeepers)”.
Two years on, Courtois went into — and again emerged triumphantly from — another Champions League final with a very different mindset. This time it was all about the gruelling journey back from injury, the long, lonely days in the gym and the “many months of sacrifice”.
Rather than hit out at his critics or doubters, whether real or imagined, Courtois posted a more sincere, reflective message on Instagram: “For those who have believed in me, for those of you who have encouraged me, for those who have helped me get through, for my colleagues, for this club, the best in the world, this is my way of saying THANK YOU for always being by my side.”
He also took a moment, in a post-match interview with Spanish television station Movistar, to thank Lunin for his role in Madrid’s success this season. Without the Ukrainian’s contribution, there might not have been a Champions League final to come back for.
But when it came down to it, when the stakes were highest, Ancelotti was grateful to be able to call upon Courtois: five appearances this season, 18 shots faced, no goals conceded, two winner’s medals. And now, for reasons best known to Tedesco and himself, a rare summer off.
(Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
