Courtois resists the sinking: Real Madrid's leaky defence exposes Mourinho's biggest flaw
36 saves out of 48 are not enough
Thibaut Courtois has not been the problem during Real Madrid's underwhelming showing since the start of the season, he has been the only solution. The Belgian stands alone in the face of the storm, delivering extraordinary performances that sit in complete contrast to the disastrous numbers of the defence in front of him.
Two clean sheets in ten matches tells its own story. Real Madrid have shipped 12 goals at a rate of 1.2 per game, despite having one of the world's best goalkeepers between the posts.
A moment that sums up the season
At the Stadio Olimpico in the Italian capital, Rome, the paradox was laid bare. Four minutes in, Paulo Dybala unleashed a surprise strike from the left side and Courtois brilliantly turned it away with his fist.
The ball dropped inside the penalty area. Mario Hermoso picked it up and fired powerfully towards the right-hand post, but the Belgian came back like an arrow, diverting its path with a second miraculous save in the same attack to prevent a certain goal.
That sequence was the headline for Real Madrid's performances this season: glaring defensive errors, with Courtois repairing what others ruin, as described in a report by the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo".
First-half numbers from that encounter were shocking. Courtois was Real Madrid's second-most frequent toucher of the ball with 41 touches, directly behind Konate (43 touches), a clear indication of the scale of the pressure on the team's goal and of his pivotal role, which went beyond making saves to building play and distributing the ball.
The language of numbers does not lie
Despite his brilliance, the night in Rome ended with three goals in his net, taking his tally to 12 goals conceded in the first ten matches. The Belgian is the only player in the Real Madrid squad to have started every match without being substituted, and he has saved 36 shots out of 48 on his goal, at a rate of 3.6 saves per match.
Los Blancos have kept a clean sheet on only two occasions, both at their Santiago Bernabeu stronghold: against Malaga (4-0) and Villarreal (1-0).
Away from home, the wall collapsed. Elche (3-2), Atletico Madrid (2-1) and Roma (4-3) all managed to score more than one goal against the Madrid side.
For comparison, at the same stage last season, Real Madrid had conceded only 10 goals, five of them in the derby against Atletico, and had kept four clean sheets. That underlines the scale of the current defensive decline.
Courtois speaks and Mourinho is worried
After the Roma match, Courtois did not hide his displeasure, and his assessment was frank and sharp: "The mistakes we made cost us three goals. For the first and second goals, we lost the ball easily and they scored from a counter-attack, so that was our fault."
He added: "We were unlucky when the ball rebounded and went into the net. As for the third goal, it could have been a penalty in our favour, but the outcome was the opposite."
Those errors put manager Jose Mourinho in an unenviable position. A man who pays close attention to defensive balance has found himself forced to deal with a system in disarray.
Mourinho has leaned on regular rotation between his full-backs, fielding Cucurella and Dumfries in rotation with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Carreras. Against Roma and Atletico Madrid, the choice fell on the World Cup-winning Spaniard and the Dutchman, while Cucurella played alongside Trent against Elche.
Injuries have complicated the picture further. Of the four players in the squad with long-term injuries, three are defenders: Militao, Mendy and Asencio. That forces the centre-backs to increase their playing minutes and to cover enforced absences due to suspensions, as happened with Huijsen.
Individual errors, injuries, a lack of cohesion. All of it is piling up on the coaching staff and raising one big question: how long can Courtois carry Real Madrid's defence on his shoulders alone?
