Courtois will be the 7th Real Madrid goalkeeper to play a full LaLiga season

 


It has been a magnificent season for Thibaut Courtois. His form has been a key factor behind Real Madrid's Champions League campaign and the fact that they are still in the LaLiga Santander title race as they entertain Villarreal in the final match of the season this weekend.

In Saturday's fixture, Courtois has the chance to become only the seventh goalkeeper in Real Madrid history to complete an entire LaLiga Santander season, joining a list of legendary shot-stoppers.

Zamora, the first

Ricardo Zamora, 'The Divine', became the first Real Madrid goalkeeper to complete an entire LaLiga Santander season in 1932/33. In that campaign, the side coached by Englishman Robert Edwin Firth lifted the title for the second successive season.

Eleven years later, Pepe Banon became the next Real Madrid goalkeeper to achieve this feat, followed by Jose Vicente Train in 1960/61.

Betancort's double and four for Casillas

Next up came Antonio Betancort, who enjoyed stunning success at Real Madrid during the 1960s, winning six LaLiga Santander titles and the sixth European Cup. He completed two full season in LaLiga Santander in 1965/66 and 1968/69.

Just under two decades later, Paco Buyo had placed himself into this list, playing 44 matches in the historic 'play-off' season of 1986/87, before repeating this achievement in 1993/94.

Then came Iker Casillas, arguably the greatest goalkeeper in Real Madrid history, who took this feat to new heights with four completed seasons in LaLiga Santander. These were achieved in 2003/03, 2006/07, 2008/09 and 2009/10, each with a different coach.

Lunin's solitude

Andiry Lunin's only appearance this season came in the Copa del Rey defeat to Alcoyano, meaning that he has joined a select club of Real Madrid goalkeepers to have not made one appearance in a LaLiga Santander campaign.

His situation this season is similar to that of Jerzy Dudek in 2009/10, whose only two appearances came in the Copa del Rey disaster against Alcorcon.

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