Courtois calls for help ahead of Real Madrid’s visit to Chelsea

Real Madrid were far from convincing as they won 2-1 at Celta Vigo on Saturday, needing three penalty awards and a couple of Thibaut Courtois world-class saves to get the job done. After the match, the Belgian goalkeeper spoke about his latest performance and called for help from his defenders.

“We suffered in this game and I don’t know if we deserved to win, since I had to make two great saves in the first half,” a brutally honest Courtois said in his post-match interview, referring to the stops he made against Denis Suárez and Iago Aspas.

“Sometimes we lack intensity and we now have Chelsea next, who are experts in this,” the shot-stopper added, warning his colleagues ahead of the Wednesday night visit to his former home of Stamford Bridge.

Courtois’ role in Real Madrid’s march to the title

Despite their recent setback in El Clasico, Real Madrid remain on course for this year’s title and, if they do seal it, the heroes of this championship will be Karim Benzema and then Courtois. The Belgian has become such a reliable figure between the posts and even won the LaLiga Santander Player of the Month prize for his efforts in February.

Looking at the numbers, he has saved 76.5 percent of the shots he has faced this league season, which is the second-highest percentage after Bono of Sevilla, who has saved exactly 80 percent.

But, it’s not just the quantity of Courtois’ saves. It’s the quality and the timing of them too, with the 29-year-old coming up big in the big moments. His performance and penalty save against Lionel Messi in the first leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League duel with Paris Saint-Germain kept the Spanish side in that tie, allowing Benzema to pull off his comeback heroics.

Courtois truly has been great this season and he deserves some help. As he himself said, Los Blancos will have to put in a more intense shift when they visit Chelsea on Wednesday.