Real Madrid’s Champions League hopes may have just taken a big hit. Superstar goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will be out for roughly six weeks with a thigh injury, though he is currently expected to return before the end of the season. Courtois sustained the injury during Madrid’s 2-1 win at Manchester City on Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League, coming off at halftime for Andriy Lunin. Madrid went on to win the round of 16 tie 5-1 on aggregate, advancing to the quarterfinals with relative ease.
“Following tests carried out today on our player Thibaut Courtois by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a muscle injury in the rectus femoris of his right quadriceps,” Real Madrid said in a statement on Thursday. “His recovery will be monitored.”
If his recovery timeline goes as scheduled, Courtois would miss seven games for Los Blancos, starting with Sunday’s LaLiga clash against former club Atletico Madrid. He is also expected to miss Madrid’s Champions League quarterfinal matches in April against Bayern Munich, one of the favorites to win the competition. Courtois, though, could rerurn in time for El Clasico on May 10 at Barcelona, a match that could play a sizable role in the title race. Los Blancos currently sit second in LaLiga, four points behind league leaders Barcelona with 10 matches to go.
Lunin has frequently filled in for Courtois since making his debut for the club in January 2021, most notably in the 2023-24 season. Courtois only made five appearances during that campaign, first missing a chunk of the season with an ACL injury and then picking up a meniscus issue in the same knee in the final months of the season. Real Madrid averaged one goal against and 1.1 expected goals against with Lunin in goal that season, while he averaged three shots per game and collected 12 clean sheets in 30 matches.
Los Blancos were LaLiga’s best defensive team en route to the title, conceding just 26 goals in 38 games, while the Ukraine international also played eight times in the Champions League, most notably making two stops in their penalty shootout win over Manchester City in the quarterfinals. Lunin, though, was unable to take part in the Champions League final that season after getting the flu in the week leading up to the match. He trained on his own and traveled to London after the rest of the team, but Courtois ended up starting in their 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium instead.
Courtois still in the mix for World Cup
Courtois’ thigh injury means he will miss Belgium’s friendlies against the U.S. men’s national team and Mexico this month, a set of matches that will both provide on-field preparation against potential World Cup opponents as well as help acclimatize the players to some of the facilities that will be used during the summertime tournament.
Should his recovery go as planned, though, Courtois would be available for selection to his fourth World Cup with Belgium. The Red Devils are currently slated to open Group G against Egypt on June 15 at Seattle’s Lumen Field before taking on Iran at SoFi Stadium outside of Los Angeles six days later. They will complete the group stage against New Zealand at Vancouver’s BC Place on June 26.
