• Valverde.The hero of the final: "I had no other, I'm sorry"
  • Chronicle: Ramos finishes Atlético on penalties and rescues another title for Real Madrid

On the eve of the Super Cup final, Florentino Pérez went to Real Madrid training, in the small stadium of Ittihad, a club in Jeddah. He had landed hours earlier surprised by the temperature, lower than expected. Not recommended for the constipate that dragged. On the suit and tie, a sporting feathers were placed left by the team's employees. In a small apart with the journalists present, someone valued him the level of Jan Oblak , still recent the exhibition of the goalkeeper of Atletico in the semifinal against Barcelona. The best in the world, unbeatable, imposing ... The deserved praise flowed. "Well, ours is not bad either, don't forget it," said the white president with intention. Sunday night, after the decisive role of Thibaut Courtois against the rojiblancos, Florentino winked in the mixed area of ​​the King Abdullah stadium remembering his aim from the previous day.

In this Madrid without a super star and who traveled to Saudi Arabia dry of headlines (Benzema, Hazard, Bale and Asensio) , the merits of the conquest of the first title of the season were distributed. There was where to put the headline. If Simeone, the rival coach, looked at Fede Valverde for that winning red card and the photographers were looking for Sergio Ramos, author of the last penalty, the bulk of the locker room hugged his goalkeeper. In fact, the first who did it, in the celebration pineapple after the captain's goal, was Areola, the substitute goalkeeper. The heartfelt congratulation he gave to his partner (and rival for the position) illustrates the good feeling of the two since the beginning of the season. In the penalty stopped by the Belgian Thomas there were many hours of work of both in Valdebebas, under the supervision of coach Roberto Vázquez.

Already during the match, Courtois was a wall for Atlético. Safe from above, fast from below and holding hands with reflections. He even dared, in the end, to say that in Morata's ride, the one that aborted in Valverde red, there he was; that perhaps he would have had time to go out to clear the ball. The television repetition questions such an optimistic point of view, although its euphoria was logical. So happy I was that he didn't hesitate to comment on any of his interventions. "It was a stop," he said of the penalty that stopped the Ghanaian midfielder. The bomb was justified.

In the fight for Zamora

His role in the Spanish Super Cup crowns months of growth, after the doubts accumulated in his first season and the start of the current one. He did not make rude mistakes, but he did leave the feeling some afternoons of not being the determining goal that was at Chelsea or Atletico . Nor is that of the Belgian national team, that piece that saves and wins matches, like Ter Stegen in Barça or Oblak himself in the rojiblanco box.

In Vigo, for example, in the first League match, he signed a spectacular intervention, in a header, but then in the fan's retina his images streamed in defeats like the PSG. He looked like one more goalkeeper and was not, of course, for that for which he had been signed. The post Hangover hangover, the frustrated stories with De Gea and Kepa, the tensions with Keylor Navas ... The club hoped that with the arrival of Courtois it would end, once and for all, the constant noise that the white goal had been generating for years , from the stage of José Mourinho.

It was last fall when things began to change. He improved the eared keeper and at the same time Madrid, stronger line by line, especially behind. The team closed ranks, with zero markers and rarely allowing the opponent. And the Courtois began to appear that remembered to see the Bernabéu in the summaries of the English league or in the games of Belgium. His good numbers (nine goals in 16 games) have placed him in the fight for the Zamora trophy, now matched with Oblak. Since 2008 (Casillas), a madridista does not win the prize for the least scored goalkeeper in the League.

Friendly with his companions, joker, in love with the rhythm of life in the capital ... the Belgian had been wishing to return to Spain for years. Atletico came to probe him to recover, fearing the march of Oblak, but in the end Madrid opted for him. He soon imagined, for his experience in the city, what awaited him in each of his visits to the red and white stadium. Wanda's welcome was a shower of insults and stuffed rats . Therefore, it is easy to imagine their feelings after defeating the Simeone team in Jeddah. Interestingly, he shares a communication agency with two other athletes who are also very angry at his former hobbies: Griezmann and Mirotic.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • Real Madrid
  • Thibaut Courtois
  • Belgium
  • Spain Supercup
  • Sergio Ramos
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Barcelona
  • David De Gea
  • Eden Hazard
  • Spain
  • Gareth Bale
  • Jose Mourinho
  • Keylor Navas
  • sports

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