The rojiblanco stopper

Thibaut Courtois left the field on Sunday, once again, with his job done. The young goalkeeper had managed to keep a clean sheet for the fourth consecutive game away from home, stretching the time without conceding away from the Vicente Calderon to 418 minutes. The Belgian made sure he kept on top of the Zamora Trophy ranking with his sixteenth clean sheet of the season, five times more than Willy Caballero, who is second on the list with 11 clean sheets. Courtois has conceded 23 goals in 29 games (0.79) compared to the 27 in 28 games conceded by the Argentine keeper at Málaga.

The rojiblanco number 13 had already recently entered the clubs history books after going 820 minutes without conceding a goal at the Vicente Calderon Stadium, surpassing the 800 minutes that Abel had recorded on the bank's of the Manzanares. Undoubtedly, the good work of Courtois and the defensive work of all his colleagues had a lot to do with the great run which saw Simeone’s men pick up 14 consecutive wins in the league.

Since Molina won the Zamora trophy 17 years ago in the time of `double ', no Atletico goalkeeper has had their hands on the trophy, but Courtois impressive record see him close to it. He is the goalkeeper that has kept the most clean sheet in this league, more than half of the times that he has played. He is also has the third best record in the big five European leagues (Spain, France, Germany, Italy and England), surpassed only by Sirigu and Neuer, the goalkeeper of PSG and Bayern Munich, who lead their respective leagues and in the case of the Germans, have just been crowned champions, a clear sign of their superiority.

Courtois's talent is not lost on anyone and the Belgium was one of three finalists for the Golden Boy award designating the best under-21 player in Europe. The keeper is a regular in the Atletico side sat in third place looking at the Champions League positions.

A collective job
However, the praise, as stated on more than one occasion by the Belgian goalkeeper, must also be shared with his teammates who are having spectacular season in the defensive. From Falcao who is who initiates the pressure through midfield, Atletico have woven a defensive network that makes it difficult for opposition teams to arrive at the Atleti goal. This is demonstrated by the numbers, which place Courtois as 17th in the list of goalkeepers in terms of saves made, being 59, a far cry from the 91 for example that Willy Caballero, his main rival for the current Zamora has had to make.