Real Madrid will face Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Tuesday night and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is fit and available for this game.
Thibaut Courtois has been out of action this season due to two major knee injuries and so far, he’s missed close to 50 games for Real Madrid. Back in August, he had picked up an ACL injury and then in March just when he was about to make a comeback, the keeper tore his meniscus muscle.
However, in a major boost, he has resumed training and the 31-year-old has also been included in the squad for the trip to the Allianz Arena in midweek.
Will Thibaut Courtois start on Tuesday or will Ancelotti keep his faith in Lunin?
According to a report in Diario AS, Courtois is confident that he can start in the first-leg and help out his team but Carlo Ancelotti is likely to stick with Andriy Lunin.
When Courtois had picked up that injury, everyone thought Kepa was going to be the new No 1 but it’s Lunin who has shone for Real Madrid throughout this season. So far, he’s featured in 28 games for the Los Blancos and he’s kept 12 clean sheets.
After his penalty shootout heroics against Manchester City in the quarter-finals, it will be very harsh on Carlo Ancelotti’s part to drop him against Bayern Munich.
Also, Thibaut Courtois is yet to feature for Real Madrid this season and his last minutes on the pitch was in a club friendly against Juventus back in August. The 31-year-old might be in good shape to make it into the squad but Ancelotti will not even think for one second about dropping Lunin to the bench.
Overall, Courtois’ return will be a big positive for Real Madrid and once they wrap up the league then Ancelotti can allow the Belgian keeper to have some minutes under his belt. But at the Allianz Arena, he is going to be sat on the bench.
