'I'm a winner': Real Madrid's Courtois slams critics after Champions League final heroics

Real Madrid's 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the Champions League final on Saturday at the Stade de France in Paris will be remembered for Thibaut Courtois' heroics. The Belgian showed the importance of having a top-class goalkeeper as he produced a string of spectacular and crucial saves to deny Jurgen Klopp's men from avenging 2018's nightmare.

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Vinicius Junior may have got the only goal at the Stade de France just before the hour mark to help Real Madrid lift their record-extending 14th Champions League crown, but the honour would not have been possible without Courtois.

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The 30-year-old was credited with nine saves, including a superb strong arm to turn behind a Mohamed Salah strike late on and, perhaps most importantly, a fine early stop to turn a Sadio Mane shot onto the post when Liverpool was in the ascendancy. 

"The most important was the save from Mane. I really had to use my two metres to get there and turn fast to get the rebound," Courtois said after collecting his award for man of the match.

Ever since clinching the Belgian league in 2011 with Genk, Courtois has enjoyed a remarkable career. Domestic titles have followed at Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Real Madrid, while he also won the Europa League during his time with Madrid's red and white half. However, his stint with Atletico also included an agonising defeat at the hand of Carlo Ancelotti's men in the 2014 Champions League final.

Referencing Italy legend Gianluigi Buffon, who never won a Champions League, Courtois expressed his delight at finally getting his hands on the biggest prize in the club game. "It is one of the nicest feelings in my life along with the birth of my children. Buffon is maybe the greatest goalkeeper in history but he never won the Champions League. I didn't want that to happen to me," the Belgian said.

After four years in Chelsea, Courtois joined Real Madrid in 2018, just after the Los Blancos bagged the Champions League against Liverpool in Kyiv. Keylor Navas was Real Madrid's goalkeeper then, but the Belgium international soon pushed out the Costa Rican to take the gloves at the Santiago Bernabeu on his own. However, after Saturday's final, Courtois stated that he does not get the respect he deserves back in England. 

"There was a magazine in England that didn't put me in the top 10 goalkeepers in the world. That is a lack of respect. I am not saying they have to put my number one but not to put me in the top 10 is strange. I twice won the Premier League in England with Chelsea and don't think I ever get recognised, and in my first season in Madrid, a lot of people laughed at me but now here I am as a winner and it's a nice feeling," Courtois remarked.

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Real Madrid's talisman Karim Benzema has been the centre of attention after scoring 15 goals for the team in the Champions League this season, including 10 in a dramatic series of knockout wins over Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City. Yet perhaps none would have been possible had Courtois not saved Lionel Messi's penalty in the first leg of the last-16 tie against PSG.

"Obviously that was an important moment also for me personally -- you never know how the game would have gone had he scored. At the beginning of this season, people didn't think we would win La Liga or even reach the semi-finals of the Champions League, but we have, and it is down to work done by the coach. Now we need to rest well and come back strong again next season," the Belgian goalkeeper concluded.