Thibaut Courtois has unveiled his new tattoo which commemorates beating Liverpool in the Champions League final.
The 30-year-old goalkeeper won Man of the Match as Real Madrid beat the Reds 1-0 thanks to Vinicius Junior's second-half strike. Belgium international Courtois produced a record-breaking nine saves from the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Thiago Alcantara to keep a clean sheet for Los Blancos, who were crowned European champions for a record 14th time.
The tattoo depicts a brick wall, with 'TC1' and the Champions League trophy guarding it. Having thanked the tattoo artist, Larissa, in his post, she modestly replied: "For the ONE and only Champ! Thank you for giving me the opportunity to place this beautiful memo."
The former Chelsea stopper did not only make headlines during the game for his spectacular performance, as he proceeded to tell fans to "put some respect" on his name in an impassioned post-match interview with BT Sport. "In the press conference yesterday I said when Real Madrid plays finals they win it. I'm on the good side of history," Courtois began.
"I saw tweets coming my way saying I was going to get humbled today but it was the other way around. Today I needed to win a final for my career, for all the hard work, to put respect on my name, because I don't think I have enough respect, especially in England.
"I saw a lot of criticism, even after a great season, that I was not good enough or whatever. I'm just really happy and proud of the performance of the team. We stuck to it and when I needed to be I was there for the team."
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on Courtois for his outstanding display, claiming that "something is going wrong for the other team" when the winning side's goalkeeper picks up the Man of the Match award. "We had I think three really big chances where Courtois made incredible saves," Klopp explained. "I would have loved to have had a few more of this calibre."
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His own manager, Carlo Ancelotti, was similarly complimentary but could hardly describe the ex- Atletico Madrid goalkeeper's heroics: "Wow. Unbelievable," the Italian said. "I can't believe it." Real right-back Dani Carvajal then added of his teammate: "He made three or four saves to win it for us."
Los Blancos president Florentino Perez, who signed him from Chelsea for £35 million in 2018, went on to say: "He's had an extraordinary season. There were great saves tonight but don't forget the save with his foot in extra-time against Manchester City. He is the best in the world."
