Reds despair of Courtois: Real Madrid's 'holy' titan

Liverpool are pushing for Real Madrid's goal in the Champions League final - but there the Reds find their champion in Thibaut Courtois.

Reds despair of Courtois: Real Madrid's 'holy' titan

Liverpool are pushing for Real Madrid's goal in the Champions League final - but there the Reds find their champion in Thibaut Courtois. The Real Madrid keeper is the match winner. Incidentally, he was spurred on by the struggle for recognition.

The 'holy' titan Thibaut Courtois played on the field with his young children Adriana and Nicolas, kissing the legendary trophy again and again, but one thing rankled the Real Madrid goalkeeper. "I'm just sorry about my brother, who's getting married tomorrow - and I can't be there," said the hero of the Champions League final, sending friendly greetings to his native Belgium. For Courtois, the missed wedding was the only blemish on an otherwise perfect weekend.

"It's the best feeling of my life, apart from the birth of my children. That's why I immediately ran to my family. You know what I've sacrificed over the years," said the 30-year-old, who is the striker of the Liverpool FC 1-0 (0-0) in Paris with his brilliant saves had brought despair in rows. The day after, the Spanish newspaper "Marca" wrote about the "miracle of Saint Courtois", from whose hands one should "make a cast and exhibit it in a museum". "AS" simply called the goalkeeper, who was voted the best player in the final, "the Belgian wall".

When Jürgen Klopp, coach of the defeated England, was asked about the reasons for his team's defeat, it became terribly banal. It was the simplest thing in the (soccer) world. "They scored a goal, we didn't." If the opponent's goalie is man of the match, then "you know something's gone awry." Instead of celebrating goals for his own team, Klopp witnessed a master class in goal prevention.

Courtois was always there when needed. Nine times he had to intervene, nine times he parried. Sometimes gorgeous. In the first half he deflected a shot from Sadio Mané to the post, after the break he made several appearances against Mo Salah, defending with brilliant positioning and even stronger reflexes. Courtois also feels satisfaction after the triumph. "I saw a lot of people criticizing me but today we showed again who is the king of Europe," he said. "Today nobody could take away my desire to win the Champions League. I really wanted to win." He won the title in the premier class for the first time. "I'm feeling very good this year, we've done a good job."

The goalkeeper was helped by involuntary motivation from an English magazine. "They didn't put me in their list of best goalkeepers in March. I'm not saying I'm number one, but I should have been in the top ten after a season like this. I don't get the respect in England that I do deserve," said Courtois, who played at Chelsea from 2011 to 2018. That should change now - apart perhaps from the many Liverpool fans in their own circle of friends. "They told me before the game that I would be humiliated today," said Courtois: "I think the opposite was the case."