Courtois’ mysterious injury means big trouble for Real Madrid. Will he make it to El Clásico?

Karim Benzema, Vinicius Junior and… Thibaut Courtois. These are the three architects of Real Madrid’s success last season. But the Belgian goalkeeper is currently out of action, which is causing major problems.

He’s been underestimated, ridiculed. In England, Courtois was laughed at, not considered a top goalkeeper. So the lanky Belgian got angry and delivered an otherworldly performance in the Champions League final against England’s Liverpool, dragging Real Madrid to the earned trophy.

Everyone was booing him, only Los Blancos fans are used to this high standard, as Courtois has been putting in similar performances regularly in recent years. The 30-year-old goalkeeper was also a big part of Real Madrid’s great start to the season, with Carlo Ancelotti’s charges winning their opening 9 competitive matches.

However, Courtois brought back an injury from the national break and did not start the match against Osasuna. And as a confirmation of his importance for Real came the Merengues’ first loss of the current season.

Andriy Lunin, who Real brought in as one of the top goalkeeping talents in Europe in 2018, was in goal. The 23-year-old Ukrainian made no mistake and cannot be faulted for his goal, although who knows if Courtois would have gotten a header from García.

Mysterious injury

Just what is the story with the Belgian goalkeeper? Courtois has a sciatic nerve injury. A not very common injury, where the length of absence is absolutely uncertain. Someone gets rid of the pain in a few days, someone only in a few months. No doctor in the world can tell when the pain will go away.

And that’s not good news for Real Madrid. In two weeks’ time, on 16 October, the El Clásico against Barcelona is scheduled. In the meantime, Real will play Shakhtar Donetsk and Getafe twice more.

Only yesterday, leading Spanish sources reported that the club wants to let Courtois recover properly and he will not be involved in any of these three games to be ready for El Clásico.

However, coach Carlo Ancelotti came up with some positive news at a press conference. “Courtois won’t play tomorrow, there is also a question mark over the Getafe game. But he is feeling better today, we will see how he feels next week. There is a chance he could play against Shakhtar in the return leg,” the Italian coach told the fans.

For Real Madrid, the main thing is to get the best goalkeeper in the world back in shape for the clash with Barcelona. The duels with Shakhtar and Getafe could be handled by the number two Lunin, who has been waiting for a chance for a long time.

Source: Real Madrid, Twitter, MARCA