Real Madrid has started the season with one of the greatest difficulties in its recent history: keeping a clean sheet. So far, the club has only achieved a goalless goal in two of the ten games played, despite having goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who continues to show high-level performance.
In the match against Roma, Courtois was the protagonist from the first minute, making a spectacular save after four minutes when Dybala shot from the left side. The goalkeeper cleared it with his fists and, after Mario Hermoso's recovery, the Spaniard managed a shot that Courtois himself avoided with an elegant dive. Despite this outstanding performance, the team conceded three goals, totaling 12 in the first ten games of the campaign, which is equivalent to an average of 1.2 goals per game. Courtois explained that defensive errors and bad luck in getting the ball out were responsible for those three goals, and that the third "possibly was a penalty in favor and in the end it ended up on the other side."
The Belgian goalkeeper is the only player in the team who has started every game and has never been substituted. He has accumulated 36 saves against 48 shots on goal, with an average of 3.6 stops per game. Madrid has only kept a clean sheet on two occasions: against Málaga (4-0) and against Villarreal (1-0), both at the Bernabéu. The teams that have scored more than one goal away from home are Elche (2-3), Atlético de Madrid (2-1) and Roma (3-4).
Along with Courtois' performance, the team has undergone changes in defense. Coach José Mourinho has chosen to systematically rotate the full-backs, alternating Cucurella and Dumfries with Trent and Carreras. In addition, long-term injuries to three defenders—Militao, Mendy and Asencio—have forced the centre-backs to accumulate minutes and cover themselves in case of sanctions, as happened with Huijsen. These defensive problems add to Mourinho's concern about maintaining the team's balance.
With the season still underway, Real Madrid will have to improve its defensive performance to prevent the goal from continuing to be a weak point. The next round will be crucial to evaluate whether tactical decisions and the recoveries of injured players can reverse the trend of conceding goals and allow the team to regain the consistency that characterized its previous campaigns.