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Real Madrid missed a number of chances to kill the game as a contest, and at the other end, they also allowed Inter to test Thibaut Courtois<\/a> on many occasions. The Belgian goalkeeper made seven saves, with many \u2013 including his manager<\/a> \u2013 believing that he should have won the MVP award, not Federico Valverde.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Courtois has been a vital player for Real Madrid ever since he arrived from Chelsea eight years ago, and according to club icon Iker Casillas<\/a> (via MD<\/a>), he was one of the best players in La Liga<\/a> during the 2026-27 season. But he was also quick to emphasise that this is not a good thing for Los Blancos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIt\u2019s good to have Courtois in the Top 3 (of best players in La Liga). But,\u00a0if the goalkeeper is the best in the team, it\u2019s a bad thing.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Courtois was excellent for Real Madrid over the course of the 2025-26 season, but they will be relieved that he\u2019s been less busy during the opening stages of the current campaign \u2013 aside from the aforementioned Inter match. It\u2019s clear that the first team cannot afford to be as bad defensively, and so far, Mourinho has appeared to tighten things up \u2013 helped by the likes of Marc Cucurella and Ibrahima Konate joining in the summer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n