Ancelotti addresses Courtois injury, outlines replacement

Real Madrid will kick off their 2023-24 campaign travelling to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, and there are some big issues on everyone's mind. The club announced on Thursday that starting goalkeeper Thibault Courtois would miss the season following an ACL tear, and it leaves 'Los Blancos' with a sizeable problem ahead of La Liga's restart.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti faced the press ahead of the opening fixture, and was inevitably asked about the absence. The Italian admitted that losing such a key player was a blow, but he was confident in their backup, Andriy Lunin.

"Well, on an emotional level, yesterday was not a good day because of the unfortunate injury to an important player, but this is what usually happens in football", began Ancelotti.

"These things happen and, now, all there is to do is to wish Courtois a speedy recovery and then to give all the confidence in the world to Lunin, who is a great goalkeeper, who has already shown his quality and has done very well in pre-season. We have confidence in him because we think he has talent. What Lunin lacks is what everyone who starts a job lacks: experience", acknowledged the coach.

There has been a lot of speculation about Madrid making an emergency signing, with links to David De Gea, Nevas and Yassine Bounou, but while the manager admits it's under consideration, he did not outline it as a priority.

"I'm very happy with Lunin. Signing another goalkeeper is something we have to think about because obviously, behind Lunin we have young keepers with a lot of potential, but the season is very long. This is something we can think about over the next few days and we're going to think about it, but only as a second choice, because we have a lot of faith in Andriy", he continued.

"I repeat: we have total confidence in Lunin. In the next few days, we will think about bringing in another goalkeeper. As a starter, we have confidence in Lunin and we will continue with Lunin," he added.

 

August 11, 2023