Thibaut Courtois once again crucial as Real Madrid keep their first clean sheet since February | OneFootball

Real Madrid faced Deportivo Alaves in a crucial La Liga match on Sunday. The Merengues were under quite some pressure ahead of this game following the two defeats, to Valencia and Arsenal, they had suffered in the span of a week.

Furthermore, Barcelona had already won their league game on matchday 31 and Los Blancos needed to win to keep their deficit limited to 4 points in the La Liga race.

Carlo Ancelotti, who was suspended for this game, still decided to rest two of his biggest stars, i.e., Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, for this game. Furthermore, Kylian Mbappe was also able to play only 38 minutes, as he got a red card for quite a harsh and unnecessary tackle, making the game even more difficult for Real Madrid.

However, his compatriot, Eduardo Camavinga, put in a stunning strike that went into the back of Owono’s goal, and remained the only goal on the scoreboard by the full-time whistle.

Meanwhile, the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was able to finally keep a clean sheet, the first one for Real Madrid since the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final tie against Real Sociedad on 26th February.

Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni, Raul Asencio, and Antonio Rudiger all made crucial defensive contributions, but the Belgian goalie still had to do some work to keep Alaves from scoring.

As Sofascore statistics show, Courtois made 6 saves in this game, 3 of which came from shots from inside the box, 1 high claim, and 1 clearance to keep the hosts at bay.

Prior to this game, the Merengues had conceded goals in all the 9 games they had played since the start of March, against Real Betis, Atletico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, Villarreal, Leganes, Real Sociedad, Valencia, and Arsenal. In total, Los Blancos conceded a total of 17 goals, which is simply unaffordable for a team with Real Madrid’s ambitions.

Hopefully, Ancelotti will address this crucial issue as the Merengues find themselves in quite a difficult situation in this business end of the season. Up next, they are set to face Arsenal in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie.

After having conceded 3 goals in the first leg of this tie, it would be a real test for Thibaut Courtois and Co. to build up on the clean sheet against Alaves to show permanent improvement in the defensive side of the game.