• Analysis: The goal debate returns

Thibaut Courtois is not living his best weeks at Real Madrid . The Belgian, who was chosen as the best goalkeeper in the World Cup in Russia , has been living since his arrival at the Santiago Bernabéu, a continuous debate about his fitness, his position with respect to the white goalkeepers who compete for him and the occasional controversy outside the lawn .

Courtois arrived at the White House in August 2018, shared goal with Keylor Navas at the beginning of the season, with the Costa Rican playing the Champions League and the Belgian League, and ended up winning the game he had started in the three consecutive orejonas. Their numbers, of course, were far from those Navas had averaged during those years: 0.98 goals per game the 'tico' fit.

The statistics also hurt the current Courtois if you compare the numbers he got in the three seasons he was wearing the shirt of Atlético de Madrid. A more compact team, with greater defensive concentration than Madrid, especially in the League, and which allowed fewer chances than its eternal rival. In addition, the individual level of the Belgian goalkeeper was higher.

Courtois averages 1.37 goals conceded per game as a white goalkeeper , with 1 match out of 3 with a goal to zero. As rojiblanco, the numbers improved to 0.81 per game and a goal to zero every two matches. In global numbers: 43 games with Madrid and 59 goals against, 154 games with Atlético and 125 goals conceded. . 60% more goals conceded as a white goalkeeper.

The Belgian data is especially bleeding in LaLiga , competition in which Madrid stayed out of the fight very soon last year, and where he took the Zamora Trophy in his last two seasons as rojiblanco , 12-13 and 13-14 , fitting 29 and 24 goals . Away from 36 of his first year as a target.

The statistics website ' Who Scored ', which individually analyzes each player's work on the field, estimates Courtois's assessment during those two seasons as Zamora at 6.83 and 6.73, with a 6.86 in the 2013-2014 Champions League , when he lost the Lisbon final against Madrid. As a target, last year his performance was estimated at 6.71, while in this beginning of the year he has dropped to 6.49 in the League and 5.96 in the Champions League.

In the six league games he has played this season, Courtois averages the lowest average number of stops since his arrival at Atlético in 2011 : 1.3 per game. In his first year as a target he remained at 2.5, similar to his years as a red and white: 2.4, 2.3 and 1.9.

Zidane , despite everything, seems clear: "Blame Courtois? We all did it wrong. We scored a goal of laughter. We did nothing in the first part."

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