Courtois, Champions League final MVP, saves the day for Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois kept Liverpool’s strikers at bay and ended up frustrating the attempts of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané for 90 minutes in the Champions League final. His clean sheet allowed Real Madrid to take the title, thanks to Vinicius’ second-half goal, and led to Courtois being named MVP of the final.

In the first half alone Courtois stopped five shots on goal to keep Liverpool scoreless. The 6′7″ (2m) tall goalie used his height to stop everything that came his way and ended up frustrating Liverpool’s strikers.

The 30-year-old veteran led Real Madrid’s defense as Liverpool kept attacking in the second half. The Vinicius goal in the 59th minute only provoked the English side’s attack. Liverpool had 23 attempts to Madrid’s three during the 90 minutes of play as Madrid had no other option than to settle back and defend in their own area.

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At the end of the game most commentators were proclaiming Courtois for Most Valuable Player of the match, given his vital interventions, and UEFA had no doubt either, with Courtois named MVP of the Champions League final 2021/22.

Courtois signed with Real Madrid in 2018, but 2022 was the first time he had reached the Champions League final with the “merengues”, as Madrid are known (literally the meringues). He knows what it’s like to play in a Champions league final and lose. He was playing for Atlético de Madrid in 2014 when Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos’s header beat him in extra time. “After losing a final I know what it means to win. Hopefully, I can have a lucky feeling this time.”

Now he knows.