Although Real Madrid had a very good 2023-24 season, they still had a hard time against one team in particular, their cross-town rivals, Atletico Madrid. The two Madrid clubs faced one another on four occasions, two times in La Liga, another in Copa del Rey, and one time in the Spanish Super Cup.
The Mattress Makers won two of these games, one in La Liga and another in the Copa del Rey, both at their home ground. One of these games, the league game at Santiago Bernabeu, ended in a draw, while Real Madrid only won against them in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.
One key Real Madrid player who was absent in all of these matches was the goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois. The Belgian had suffered a tear to his ACL before the start of the season and thus was unavailable for all of these games.
In those four games, Lunin and Kepa both took turns defending the Merengue goal. Lunin was the goalkeeper in the draw in La Liga and the loss in Copa del Rey, while Kepa defended the goal in the league defeat to Atletico and the win in the Spanish Super Cup. Real Madrid conceded eleven goals in these four games.
But for the upcoming derby, Real Madrid will have Thibaut Courtois back in goal, who, as Diario AS has noted, is yet to taste defeat at the hands of the Mattress Makers.
Courtois, who is also a former Atletico Madrid player, has faced Los Colchoneros 11 times with Real Madrid, getting seven wins and four draws. Five of these wins and all four draws have come in the league, while the two other wins came in the Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup respectively.
Courtois’ numbers in these 9 league games against Atletico are particularly good, as he has kept five clean sheets, and conceded only four goals.