When Ángel Correa dribbled past Thibaut Courtois and tied the Metropolitano derby in the final moments of the match, the Belgian was injured, although he had not asked for the substitution. He played the eight minutes of added time with a break in the abductor of his left leg that, according to Real Madrid doctors, prevents him from playing the next two games, this Wednesday against Lille in the Champions League (9:00 p.m., Movistar) and this Saturday against the Villarreal at the Bernabéu (9:00 p.m., Movistar). Then comes the national team break, which for him, who gave up going with Belgium, will help him complete his recovery and be ready to return on October 19 in Vigo against Celta, according to the medical estimates derived from the tests they performed on him. this Monday in Valdebebas.
The Madrid goalkeeper gave the first signs of his problem just entering added time. Griezmann threw a free kick over the crossbar and Courtois, who was touching his left thigh, his good leg for long passes, was no longer able to score. Fede Valverde had to do it.
In the derby he had resorted to long passes much more than usual. So far this season, he has thrown an average of 4.2 passes of more than 36 meters per game, while in the derby he resorted to this exit 11 times, almost three times as many, according to the records of fbref.com. His goal kicks at the Metropolitano, where the team once again suffered many problems in getting the ball out, were also longer than usual. Until he needed to give that luck to Valverde, Courtois had scored four times on goal, on average, but against Atlético three of them were long shots, while his average last season was only 11%.
The muscle tear and the extraordinary dribble with almost no space with which Correa avoided him to tie closed a night of torture for the Belgian goalkeeper. According to the report sent this Monday by LaLiga to the Competition Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation and the Anti-Violence Commission, the ordeal began to heat up when the second half was preparing to begin, in the goal located a few meters from the south end, where the members of the Atlético Front are located: “Let them come see it, this is not a goalkeeper, it is a cabaret whore!”, states the document.
He celebrated Militão’s goal by addressing those seats, from where they began to throw lighters and other objects at him. He alerted the referee and they chanted: “Courtois, die!” After the interruption they insisted on the cabaret mention and accompanied one of their last long goal kicks with a thunderous: “Hey, bastard!” He still attempted six more long passes before asking Valverde for help, before coming face to face with Correa and seeing from the ground how victory was slipping away from Madrid.
The Belgian’s injury will provide this Wednesday in Lille the first opportunity to play for Andriy Lunin, who last year successfully covered the months he was out due to his torn ligaments, and who two and a half weeks ago extended his contract until 2030.
Real Madrid surprised this Monday by including Kylian Mbappé in its squad list for the Champions League match this Wednesday in Lille. The French forward had suffered an injury to the femoral biceps in his left thigh on September 24 in the League match against Alavés. The first estimate from the club’s medical services was that the footballer could play again on October 19 against Celta in Vigo, after the next national team break. However, what was initially going to be almost a month off has been reduced to a week. Mbappé is scheduled to carry out part of the training session with the team this afternoon and could play in the Champions League match this Wednesday, depending on his condition.
