Sometimes, there are singular moments in football when everyone watching knows at once that they have just seen something truly historic and unprecedented. Such was the case after the final of the 2021-22 Champions League.
With the victory, Los Merengues' head coach Carlo Ancelotti won his fourth Champions League title - a feat that makes him indisputably the greatest coach in the history of football. The combination of his achievements and longevity now ensure that even the likes of Pep Guardiola, Sir Alex Ferguson, José Mourinho, Helenio Herrera, and Rinus Michels no longer have a genuine case for that honour. The Italian now stands alone at the top of the mountain; it could very well be decades before his status of "greatest of all time" is truly threatened.
However, in spite of Ancelotti's historic achievement, the spotlight after Real's victory was deservedly focused on one man: Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper turned in one of the greatest individual performances in Champions League history on the biggest stage of all. His nine saves set a new record for saves made in a Champions League final.
Two of Courtois's saves were of particular note. One of them prevented Sadio Mané from opening the scoring. Mané forced his way past two Real players before unleashing a vicious shot that seemed fated to fly into the bottom corner of the net. At full extension, Courtois somehow tipped the ball onto the post before scrambling back to collect the ball. This save set the tone for what would transpire over the rest of the match.
With eight minutes left in regulation time, Liverpool were a goal behind after Vinícius Júnior scored for Real in the 59th minute. Mohamed Salah received a long ball forward and soon got into position for a one-on-one scoring chance. The Reds striker's attempt to tie the match and put his club a step closer to a seventh Champions League title would, however, be thwarted by probably the most spectacular of Courtois's saves. Courtois saw it coming almost as soon as Salah took the shot, diving to his right and batting it out of bounds to the astonishment of everyone watching. That save also all but sealed Real's victory.
Over the years, the Champions League has seen several truly outstanding goalkeeping performances. One that comes to mind is Manuel Neuer's effort for Bayern Munich against Real in the first leg of the 2016-17 quarterfinals. Neuer made 10 saves, denying the likes of Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo time and again. Although Bayern wound up losing the match 2-1, Neuer's incredible performance ensured that the Bavarian club would head into the second leg with a fighting chance. Neuer could not repeat his heroics and Bayern were eliminated; however, that does not take anything away from his play in the first leg.
Prior to Courtois's domination of Liverpool, the gold standard for goalkeeping in a Champions League final had belonged to Gianluigi Buffon for Juventus in 2003. Playing against an AC Milan team in the early stages of a dynasty, Buffon produced multiple to extend the match as he kept the score goalless. In the penalty shootout, the Italian would then go on to save penalties attempted by Milan players Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze. However, Buffon couldn't get his team over the hump as three Juve players saw their own penalties saved, ensuring that Milan would become the champions of Europe.
Thus, to contextualize Courtois's performance: it came in the single biggest match in club football, was a record-breaker, came against perhaps the most potent attacking line in world football, and most importantly, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat for his club.
For these reasons, I would claim that Ancelotti is not the only figure at Real to find himself in a "greatest of all time" discussion after that match. Thibaut Courtois's display in Paris might very well be the finest 90 minutes ever put together by a goalkeeper in the history of the Champions League.
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