We had not seen him on a football field since August 2023 and a friendly match in the United States against Juventus Turin. Thibaut Courtois, who has not been able to play a single match this season due to a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, could return to the Real Madrid group as early as “next week”. Carlo Ancelotti announced it this Thursday.
After a relapse in March which required a new operation, the Belgian goalkeeper is doing much better. ” He is fine. I think he will be available to travel with us next week (Editor’s note: in Munich on April 30) and that he will be able to play against Cadiz in the league the following Saturday, explained the Italian technician during a press conference. . The goalkeeper appeared at Real Madrid training on Thursday alongside Antonio Rüdiger and the rest of his teammates.
During Courtois’ absence, Ukrainian Andriy Lunin gained the trust of Ancelotti, who preferred him to Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga, on loan from Chelsea. Lunin notably stopped two shots on goal in the quarter-final second leg of the Champions League against Manchester City (1-1, 4-3 on the tab) last week and greatly contributed to the Madrid club’s qualification for the semi-finals.
In the previous round, he had already been one of the great architects of his team’s qualification against Leipzig.
The current La Liga leader, who is eleven points ahead of FC Barcelona after his victory in the clasico, travels to Real Sociedad on Friday evening, without English international Jude Bellingham who is suffering from a ” stomach problem,” Ancelotti explained.