Courtois' return is an example of the 'Real Madrid formula' taking precedence over merit
In his book The Real Madrid Way, Steven G. Mandis explains how the new management of the early 2000s, headed by Florentino Perez, changed the overall strategy of the Spanish club to what we know today.
"By concentrating on its historic values and the club's own high standards," he explains, leading to the process of "the sporting and commercial success of Real Madrid in the 21st century".
This is an excellent preamble to understanding what Real Madrid are made of, and why Courtois will be returning to the starting line-up after several months out through injury, relegating Lunin to the bench despite all his merits.
After a 2023/2024 season marked by some excellent Champions League performances from the Ukrainian, many expected him to start on Saturday sheerly due to the fact that he probably deserves it.
A heresy when you consider how this team and, more broadly, this club are shaped. While Real Madrid has forged itself on a number of strengths, one of them insists on one fact: on the pitch, it is the best who must play. It's a mentality that explains Ancelotti's choice of players for the match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.
The will, humility and resilience of Thibaut Courtois
And the current reality is this: Thibaut Courtois is regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world byCarlo Ancelotti, his staff and the Spanish club's management, while Andriy Lunin has managed to command respect internally for the work he has done during an interim period.
Despite suffering two serious injuries this season, there has never been any internal debate about whether or not the Belgian should start when he returns to fitness.
Before the game against Villarreal, the Italian coach was asked by the press about the matter: "For me, there's no debate. Lunin had a fantastic season and helped us a lot to reach the final. But Courtois is back to what he was before: the best goalkeeper in the world," he said.
It couldn't be clearer. At Real Madrid, pragmatism always takes precedence over emotion.
Against Bayern, Camavinga found himself on the bench for both legs, leaving Tchouameni to take his place. The former Rennes man deserved his place in the starting line-up, but in the Italian's eyes, the former Monaco man was better suited to playing against the Germans, even with a foot that had been anaesthetised for several weeks.
This famous 'Real Madrid formula' was applied to Thibaut Courtois the day after his operation on the anterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee. The club pulled out all the stops to get the Belgian back on the pitch as quickly as possible.
The infrastructure, fitness trainers and medical staff all played a vital role in his return. An important point: Real Madrid is a club that is fortunate enough to have all the best possible facilities to be able to bring the player back to a certain workload without there being any inflammatory or other reaction at the site of the player's injury.
Very soon after his operation in August, Courtois worked on the parts of his body that he could exercise, namely the upper part, with very specific exercises. He spent six to eight hours a day trying to return as soon as possible.
This work, carried out over around six months, was "monstrous", explained Thierry Barnerat (FIFA goalkeeper expert), the Belgian's personal video analyst. It gave him hope of being able to return after the March break. But the Belgian suffered a relapse, this time to the other knee (a torn medial meniscus in the right knee). A terrible time for any footballer, except Thibaut Courtois.
Acceptance of the injury(ies) was one of the player's great strengths at this complicated time in his career. Very quickly, he started again, with the same ingredients that had enabled him to see the end of the tunnel after his first injury: determination, humility and resilience.
Courtois resumed the process of trying to get back on the pitch as soon as possible, and it happened sooner than expected. Indeed, a few weeks later, the mission was accomplished. The Belgian reappeared in training before the match against Barcelona, causing astonishment among the press present that morning at Valdebebas.
At Wembley, the famous "Real Madrid formula" was applied once again. The Belgian will start in goal because, apart from having recovered his form and fitness, he is quite simply considered to be the number one in the team.
What's more, in keeping with the logic ofReal Madrid and Ancelotti, Courtois deserves to play in this match just as much as Andriy Lunin after all the efforts and sacrifices made to come back in such a short space of time. There can be no doubt that the Belgian will be defending his team's goal this Saturday evening in London.
