Valencia 1-1 Real Madrid: 3 reasons why the game ended in a draw | LaLiga 2019-20

#3 Thibaut Courtois made his presence felt on the opposite end of the pitch

Valencia CF v Real Madrid CF - La Liga

Thibaut Courtois has frequently been at the end of harsh criticism owing to his inconsistent displays following his move from Chelsea in the summer of 2018. The Belgian international has made 18 appearances in all competitions for Real Madrid this season, managing just eight clean sheets. Despite failing to keep a shut-out against Valencia, he really cannot be blamed for Carlos Soler’s opener.

The 27-year-old made his presence felt in the game in a rather surprising way. The former Blues shot-stopper was seen running down to Valencia’s penalty box when the visitors were awarded a corner kick, as the game moved into injury-time and Los Blancos were trailing by a goal. It’s not uncommon to see teams throwing their goalkeeper into the mix when they are in search of a goal late on, and even when they do, the gamble usually doesn’t pay off.

🗣⚽ THIBAUT'S BALL!!!@thibautcourtois | #RMLiga pic.twitter.com/3KGTFg7XAp

— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) December 15, 2019

This time, however, Courtois actually played a key role in his side's late equaliser as he headed Gareth Bale’s corner kick towards the goal, only to be denied by his Valencia counterpart Jaume Domenech. Los Ches ultimately failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to Karim Benzema, who made no mistake in slotting it home from close range.

It remains to be seen if Courtois’ heroics on the other end of the pitch manage to boost his confidence between the sticks in the coming games.